Unforeseen
by Briianz
Summary: A complete rewrite of my first story, Unexpected. Includes new elements, new characters, and re-imagined characters. Contains OCs. Actual Summary: At the start of the green flu outbreak, Two survivors have received word of a military outpost that is evacuating any and all living survivors. They will try their best to make it out of this living hell...alive.
1. Ch 1 A New Beginning

_Part 1: Daniel's Wishes_

**1 Week After First Infection...**

?'s POV

The air smelled rather odd these days. Instead of fresh air, you would smell the stench of blood mixed with rotten flesh. The reason the air smells like the way it does is because of the green flu and what it did to us. The green flu ruined it all. The green flu will forever change our lives...for the worst. The green flu is as bad as it could get.

Nobody knows where it came from or how it started. Some thought the infected were actually the undead. Some thought it came from infected or bad cow meat. Some thought it came from an engineered virus. Others thought it came from a nanotech contagion. There's even been some rumors that the green flu was originally suppose to be a cure to cancer that was badly infected.

However, I ain't one to question what caused it in the first place. Because in the end, it's the outcome that really matters. I try my best to survive in the world now. I-

"Ryan, Our radio just picked up a broadcast from a military outpost. They're evacuating people. It's probably a day of walking from here."

Ryan's POV

That would be Daniel, My friend. He always interrupts my thoughts. Anyways, we've been friends for as long as I can remember.

"A day? Damn...I guess we might as well go since we don't have any better plans." I said to Daniel.

"We're also running low on food." he added. And sure enough, he was right. All that we had left was three pieces of cold fried chicken, some raw chicken, a few blueberries, a plate of cold spaghetti, a few cans of cola, and a few pieces of green vegetables.

"If we're going out there, pack only what you can carry. Make sure your shotgun is loaded. And we have to watch each other's backs." He said.

One similarity that me and Daniel both share is our dads were both police sergeants; in fact, they both had their own squads. Unfortunately, we have lost contact with them ever since the outbreak started.

Daniel has a Colt Diamondback revolver (with a custom nickel finish and a six inch barrel to it) that his dad gave him last month. He has 5 speed-loaders for it. And he also has 24 extra bullets if he ever had to resort to reloading by inserting bullets manually which was if his speed-loaders ran empty; giving him a grand total of 54 bullets (which included the bullets already loaded into the gun). He also had a hunting knife. He has that knife because before his father joined the force, his father would always take him out hunting for game, maybe at-least once a month. They stopped when his dad joined the force.

Me, on the other hand, had a Remington Model 870 shotgun. I got it on my own with the help of my dad being a police sergeant. I have a belt on that has a zipper pouch which I use to hold all my extra buckshots for it. Daniel has the same belt which he uses to carry his speed-loaders and extra bullets. Anyways, In total, I have about 48 buckshots (which does not include the eight that were already loaded into the shotgun). I also had a Colt M1911, but I don't have any extra bullets for it and it ain't loaded either. I got the colt last year for my birthday from Daniel and his dad, it was from both of them. It was empty because I do not have any money to **buy** the ammo.

Me and Daniel have been staying in his apartment for the past week. We had a large supply of water, but our food supply was starting to run low (like I mentioned earlier). Gas, unfortunately, stopped running about three days ago. We barricaded both the windows and the door to make sure that the infected did not come in. We both knew first hand what they were capable of...

Daniel lived in an "average" apartment. Upon entering through the front door, you would find the kitchen to your left and a closet to your right. Past that, you would be in the living room. The living room would then lead to two bedrooms, a fire escape, and a balcony. And I guess that's pretty much all there was to his apartment.

We would take turns on watch at the door. While one of us were on watch, the other would mind their own business; eat, sleep, drink, try to get something on the radio, polish his gun, chat with each other, and basically, anything we can do to past the time. Occasionally, we would hear groaning past the barricaded door. But that was all that they were, groans behind a barricaded door.

Both me and Daniel took two of the emergency first-aid kits that we had stored away for...well, emergencies. I had a feeling we were going to need it. We had to strap the kits onto our backs. The first-aid kits came with medical supplies. Medical supplies like bandages, gauze, ointment, pain killers, sterile pads, wipes, medical tape, and other various supplies. The list just goes on and on. I could probably spend a good five minutes just to list all the supplies that came in a first-aid kit.

"All that is standing between us and the outside world is this barricade and the door. Help me remove it." I said.

"Hold on...Let me pick up some more supplies for the road." Daniel replied.

I started taking off the barricade of the door. As I did so, Daniel started putting various supplies in his back satchel. After he was done, he helped remove the barricade. We had used wooden boards, unwanted furniture, cabinets, and things of that nature as the barricade. After awhile, me and Daniel had finished removing it all.

I opened the door and Daniel took a peek outside. The hallway was empty, not a single living soul (or infected soul for that matter) was around.

"Hallway's clear. Let's go." Daniel said.

Even though the hallway was clear, there were still several corpses littering it. Some of the corpses were uninfected humans, but most of them were the infected. Several of them were in dried pools of blood. One of them had an audio diary and a gun in their hands. He was surrounded by multiple infected corpses.

"Ryan, look. This guy left behind an audio diary." Daniel said.

An audio diary was a device that CEDA released about five months before this all happened. It was a recording device that people used to record their private thoughts, Hence, the name "Audio **D****iary**". The device had five buttons, a "play", "pause", "stop", "record" , and a "erase" button. They would also come with labels that you could write on in case you wanted to name it and maybe put your own name on it. I remember I used one about two weeks ago...although, I forgot where I put it.

This particular audio diary was labeled, "Fight". The name on it was Sander Finnegan. Daniel picks it up and presses the "play" button. This was what it said:

"_This green flu is insane! Almost my whole family was taken away from me because of it. But it ain't gonna get me! I will fight them down to the last bullet. I will fight them with my bare hands if I have to! They ain't taking me alive!"_

Oh...I guess I forgot to mention a side effect of the green flu pandemic. The Psychos. The Psychos are uninfected people who are driven mad or insane by the outbreak. Psychos could even be people that were corrupted or evil. Me and Daniel had to kill one about five days ago. We had to go out for a supply run, we ran into her on our way back to the apartment. Daniel ended up killing her by putting a bullet in her head.

I made a promise to myself that I will never become like them after me and Daniel fought against the female psycho.

Anyways, I'm glad we didn't have to fight this Sander, he had a gun. He could have been a lethal psycho. Me and Daniel were lucky that the psycho that we fought didn't have one (she used a knife against us). Now that I think about it...we never got the female psycho's name. I wonder what was she like before the outbreak.

"Another psycho. Glad we didn't have to fight him." I said.

"Yep, This one could have been worse than the girl." Daniel replied.

"I agree."

"In any case, we have got to keep on moving."

"Alright...We can go down those stairs." I said as I pointed at a flight of stairs on the other side of the hall.

As we started our descend down the stairs, I decided to start a little conversation with Daniel.

"Hey Daniel, Do you think the world will ever go back to normal?" I asked him.

"I don't know, dude. It...it doesn't seem possible at this point." He replied.

"You know, it's possible that someone out there is working on a cure. We'll never know."

"That's the thing, Ryan...We'll **never** know. We might have to fight just to survive for the rest of our lives."

"Don't worry, Daniel. That military outpost is sure to promise us a safe haven."

"I hope so, buddy...I hope so."

By the end of the conversation, we were at the bottom of the stairs in the lobby. What we both saw next made my heart drop like a boulder sinking down to the bottom of a lake.

The lobby was absolutely flooded with the infected...and there doesn't seem to be a way around them.

**Author's Note: And that is the first chapter of Unforeseen.**

**And I think this story was what I needed because before I started working on this, I didn't feel like writing anymore. But now, I'm inspired!**

**I will try to update this story atleast once a week or whenever the next chapter is ready.**

**I have about three parts planned for this story, but it might end up having more. We'll see.**

**The reason I gave Ryan the Remington shotgun is because that is the shotgun that is used in the games.**

**I had to google what a first-aid kit could contain and...well, there was way too much stuff to list. I only listed a few of the medical supplies for the convenience. So, I wouldn't have to spend all day typing the list and so you (the readers) wouldn't have to read it all.**

**The Psychos are directly inspired by the psychopaths from the Dead Rising series. They will make several appearances throughout the story. Some will be alive and some will be dead already.**

**I guess that is it for notes...so see you next time.**


	2. Ch 2 Little Joe's

**Author's Note: I forgot to mention this in the ending notes of the first chapter. The back satchel that Daniel has is based off of the ones that the TF2 scout wears and the one that Shino Aburame wears in Part II of Naruto. (Yeah, Naruto...I can't believe I still remember stuff since I haven't watched it in years, I haven't watched it since my high school years. But I digress).**

**Anyways, onto the chapter.**

Ryan's POV

Here we were...at the top of the stairs overlooking the lobby filled with the infected. What were we to do? If we so much as try to fight our way through, we would probably run out of bullets halfway through. Sneaking around was also not an option. If we try to sneak around them, they will most likely find us through scent or sound.

"Any options, Daniel?" I asked.

"I think I have one, follow me." He replied.

So, I did as he said. I followed him back through the hallway that had his apartment room. I didn't notice it the first time, but the hallway had several doors that were either locked, barricaded, or otherwise, inaccessible. Eventually, me and Daniel found our way back into his apartment.

"Your apartment? What are we doing back here?" I asked

"The fire escape. It might be our only way out of here."

Oh...the fire escape. I have completely forgotten about that.

"Alright, let's go." Daniel said as he opened the door that led to the fire escape.

And so, we made our way down the fire escape and into the back alley that it led to. The back alley smelled of trash and old, discarded cigarette butts. The alley was completely empty of any living beings (infected or uninfected). To my left was a way out of the alley. The right was blocked off by some fencing.

I said, "Out onto the street!"

We made our way to the street. On the street were several abandoned cars, some trash, looted, empty stores, and several stray infected.

"Let's clear the strays, they might become a problem later." Daniel said.

Daniel takes out his diamondback from it's holster and starts shooting at them. I took out my shotgun and did the same. Several minutes in, We heard some coughing noises. Then, I suddenly felt something wrap around my body.

"What the...?! Daniel, help!" I called.

"Don't worry, Ryan. I got you!"

I see Daniel turn around. Then, he shoots his gun at the infected behind me that had ensnared me. The infected soon explodes into a cloud of...some kind of gas. The thing that constricted me lost its grip on me and it just came off.

Even though that infected was dead, there was still several stray wondering around. So, me and Daniel took care of them all. Soon, the street was cleared of the stray infected. Daniel and I went to the corpse of the infected that had constricted me earlier.

The corpse had a tongue that was sticking out of it's mouth. It wore a dirty, white shirt with a green jacket over the shirt. It also wore some stained jeans with what looked like converse shoes. He also had some boils and/or pimples over his arms and half of his face.

"What the hell is it? I have never seen anything like it..." I said as I poked the body with the barrel of my shotgun.

"I don't know. Let's call it the "Cougher". Before it snatched you, I heard it coughing like mad."

"Cougher? That sounds appropriate...alright." As we spoke, Daniel used one of his speed-loaders to reload his gun.

We started walking down the street that we were on. I decided to start some small talk.

"Daniel, How many speed-loaders do you have left?" I asked.

"Three; I used two of them while we were killing the cougher and the strays. How about you? How many bullets do you have?"

"I think I have about forty left." I should count my shots next time.

Our small talk ended when we came upon a dead end. There was a over turned oil rig that was blocking our path. The body in the driver seat had fallen out of the seat. The window shields had bullet holes in them. And the body had several bullet holes in its head. What happened here? Were there survivors around here earlier?

"Let's cut through this diner." I heard Daniel call out. I turned my head and saw him climbing through a broken window.

I followed his lead (being careful not to cut myself on the broken window shards). This diner that we were cutting through happened to be my favorite restaurant that I use to go to all the time to eat lunch. It was called, "_Little Joe's Burgers_." Me, Daniel, and another friend of ours use to eat here all the time, we were regulars...

_Three Weeks Earlier..._

_Ryan's POV_

"_Ryan, Are you okay? You haven't touched your lunch at all." Daniel asked._

"_It's nothing, Danny." I answered._

"_Ryan, I know when you have something on your mind. Please, you can tell me what's bugging you..."_

_We had came here to eat lunch as we normally do. I ordered the classic cheeseburger with grilled onions that I always got. Daniel ordered Joe's Special, the burger that this diner is locally famous for. Our friend, Austin, didn't join us today because he was busy and didn't have time to join us. He said something about helping a girl._

_Little Joe's had a full house today. It would have been strange if it wasn't a full house. It was around the afternoon...lunchtime. Waiters came in and out of the kitchen. There was several people still waiting to be seated. There was the sounds of many conversations and the chatter of plates and silverware._

"_Well, Daniel, It's about this girl. I admitted my feelings for her and she said that she just wants to be friends. She doesn't share the same feelings as I do..." I said._

"_Ryan, I've been in that situation before." Daniel said._

"_Then, what do I do?"_

"_You move on...Talk to yourself. Tell yourself that there are others."_

_I didn't say anything to that. Only because I didn't know how to respond..._

"_Ryan, you're a great guy. You're down to earth, loyal, honest, and brave. There will be others."_

_I took a moment to think about what he just said._

"_...Thanks, Daniel. I had a feeling you knew what to do."_

"_No problem, now come on. Eat your food, it's getting cold."_

"_Okay."_

Present Day

Ryan's POV

The girl that Austin helped out ended up becoming his girlfriend. I don't know if they're still alive or not, given the green flu outbreak...

"Ryan? Now is not the time to be going down memory lane...We got to keep moving." Daniel said.

I snapped out of my thoughts and refocused. Daniel was right. Now was not the time. I came up behind him before he reached his hand out to tell me to stop moving.

"Do you hear that?" He asked.

I stopped and listened. I heard a low growl coming from the kitchen. It didn't sound like anything we have ever faced before.

"Sounds like we got company..." I said.

"Get your shotgun ready." He said.

Daniel rises his gun and fires a shot into the kitchen. The infected that was in the kitchen lets out a giant roar that was loud enough to shake the ground and shatter windows. The infected comes running out of the kitchen. It's appearance was enough to make me shit my pants.

It was a giant infected man with muscles so big that it would put the Hulk to shame...

**Author's Note: And that was Chapter two. You get some character development and some story process.**

**The cougher is the Smoker. I called it the "Cougher" because...well, tell me what are the chances of different groups of survivors calling the infected the same names? Take "The Walking Dead" for example.**

**Rick and his group calls them "Walkers". Woodbury survivors called them "Biters" or something like that.**

**Following that logic, I came up with a different name for the smoking infected. And yes, I do watch "The Walking Dead".**

**I guess that is it for notes. See ya next time.**


	3. Ch 3 Distant Ecstasy

Ryan's POV

That has got to be the biggest and scariest infected I have ever seen yet! This infected had arms with big bulging muscles that could probably punch you into next week. His muscles were mostly on his upper body. Everything under his chest were small compared to the rest of his body.

I noticed that this infected has some bullet holes sprayed throughout his body. He also had some various scars on his body. It seems like he had fought some survivors in the past.

"Daniel, Run or shoot?!" I asked.

"Both!" he replied as he jumped out of the window that we entered through.

I followed his lead and started firing my bullets at him. I also heard Daniel's diamondback going off. As soon as I got out of the window, My shotgun ran out of bullets; I had to reload. I looked over to Daniel and saw him putting in a speed-loader into his gun. We were both empty.

As I was putting in more shells, I counted them. Once my count reached eight, I raised my gun...only to be greeted with a punch right to the face from the giant infected. I felt my body fly through the air. I immediately feel a sharp pain go through my entire body. I also felt glass shards everywhere around me. I felt blood running down my face.

"Ryan!" Daniel shouted.

Slowly, my vision faded to black...

_Some time later..._

_I felt a sharp pain through my body, but as soon as I felt it, it disappeared. I got up and found myself in a strange place. I looked around and saw autumn leaves falling from above, I was surrounded by trees that was shredding their leaves. I looked down and saw that I was on a wooden bench. Where am I?_

_In front of me, there was a dirt path that went...I guess north? So, I followed it. As I followed the path, I heard echoing voices, but yet, I couldn't make out what they were saying. As I walked, I noticed that the scenes around me didn't change. It was nothing but trees and more trees._

_Being here though...I felt at peace, I felt ecstasy. It felt like...nothing could ruin this perfect scene. It was like one of those post card pictures that you would send to your relatives if you went on vacation. I couldn't think of anything negative that could describe this. Wasn't I in some...bad place just a few moments ago? Everything bad just seemed to melt away...like a distant memory._

_Eventually, I see a pine tree in the distance. And under that tree was a figure. I suddenly felt the need to be with that figure. I didn't even know who it was. I was like a bee attracted to a sunflower that needed pollination._

_After awhile, I made it to the tree and saw that the figure was Daniel._

_Daniel looks at me and says something, but not a sound escaped his mouth._

_I said, "What?"_

_He repeats himself, but this time I did hear something. It still wasn't loud enough for me to hear._

_Then, he tried again. This time...I heard him._

"_Ryan! Wake up! Don't go dying on me! I need you, dude!"_

_..._

Wait...what?

I suddenly felt myself on the hard ground. All feelings of ecstasy and peace were gone. I opened my eyes. At first, everything was blurry. Soon enough, everything came into focus.

I looked around and saw Daniel standing a few feet in front of me, his revolver in his hands.

"Ryan! You're alive! I thought you were dead for a second there."

I groaned and said, "What the hell happened?"

"After you got punched by the giant, you went flying into the window of a nearby store, breaking through the glass. You were knocked out cold since then." He replied.

That would explain the glass shards I felt before I lost consciousness.

"I'm guessing you called that infected "The giant", Why do you keep coming up with the names?" I asked.

"Well, we gotta call them something, so we can warn each other."

He gets up and empties his gun, dropping the now useless empty bullets on the ground. Damn, those bullets can be loud when they hit the ground. It seems like he is out of speed loaders since he was reloading by inserting the bullet cartridges one at a time. Anyways, I took this moment to survey my surroundings and gather my bearings.

It seems like we were in a convenience store. All the aisles were looted, bare, or otherwise, empty. There was trash here and there scattered everywhere. I saw that my shotgun and my pouch was on the counter where the cash register was along with an opened first-aid kit. I slowly got back up on my feet.

"Ryan, we should be safe in here for the time being. We've been in here for about an hour." I heard Daniel said.

I replied, "An hour? How long have I been out?"

"An hour and a half at the most. After you got knocked out by that giant, I had to recover your shotgun and use it against the giant...His corpse is right outside the front door that I barricaded. I used some of your bullets, hope you don't mind."

I nodded and looked towards the front door and saw that it was barricaded with a disconnected vending machine. I went to the cash register and grabbed my shotgun. I opened my pouch and started loading it with shells.

Daniel went to a boarded up window and looked out of it through a small opening.

"Get comfortable, Looks like we're gonna be staying in here for the time being. There's too many of them outside." Daniel said.

"And it's starting to get dark..." I added.

"Get some rest, I'll keep watch."

"Okay, talk to you later."

"Alright."

As I walked away, I saw him taking out his handheld flashlight. (I almost forgot that he had his flashlight on him.) I went back to where I wake up from that dream and just laid down. I wish I could have that dream again. I felt right at peace there. Being in that dream made this outbreak seem nothing more but a distant memory...

It was at this time that I just now realized that my head and arms were bandaged. I guess Daniel applied them while I was knocked out. That's the thing about Daniel. He may seem like a tough guy, but inside, he can be very caring.

I guess I should find a way to pass the time...


	4. Ch 4 The Machete Man

Ryan's POV

Light starts coming through the small openings in the barricaded windows which signaled the dawn of a new day. That solves one problem. But what are we suppose to do about the infected on our doorstep? We can't shoot our way through. Sneaking around also wasn't any option.

Being in this looted store gave me time to think about what me and Daniel could do when we reach the military outpost. If they have something to eat and drink, I guess we'll feast. If they have beds, I guess we'll sleep and rest. We might even run into someone that we have known before the infection started. The possibilities are endless. We won't know until we get there through.

While we were in this store, I took the time to count how many bullets I have left, I was also enjoying a cigarette that I had found in one of the aisles. I had a grand total of twenty-four buckshots. That count included the bullets that are already loaded into my shotgun. My shotgun can hold a total of eight shots. I'm starting to run low...

Maybe-

**Bang! Bang! Bang!**

Three loud gunshots ring through the air which interrupts my thoughts. There was a short pause after the first shot. The sound of the gun going off was followed by a scream. Why do my thoughts always get interrupted? Soon, I saw Daniel power walking towards me.

"You hear that?" he asked.

"Of course I heard that, I'm not deaf." I replied.

"Let's go, the infected are wondering away towards the source of shots."

"And gunshots means other survivors..."

"That's right!"

Both me and Daniel worked together to move the vending machines. Once the machine was out of the way, we went out. There were several strays still hanging around, but most of them were going towards the gunshot. As we left the store, we saw them all converging onto a single house. (The giant's corpse was several meters away to my right just like Daniel had mentioned earlier.) Both me and Daniel took out the strays that still hanging around our location. I used 5 shots this time, Daniel had fired two shots. Then as we made our way to the house, we heard another blood-curdled scream.

**Bang! Bang!**

The sound of two more shots ring through the streets. There was a brief pause between the shots. What was going on?

The infected that were attacking the house were trying their best to get in. They've tried pounding on the door, breaking the barricades, smashing the wall, but yet, they couldn't get in no matter how hard they've tried. The windows were probably barricaded and the door was probably blocked off from the inside. Now that I think about it...How were me and Daniel gonna help whoever was inside? We don't have enough ammo or enough guns to kill all the-

******K-KSSSHHHHHH!**

**Beep...Beep...Beep...**

What was that beeping sound? I look towards the horde and saw a bright red beeping dot bouncing up and down. The infected went towards the beeping dot. All instincts in my mind immediately told me to get away from it...NOW!

I shouted to Daniel, "Get down now!".

We both ran behind some nearby cars. The explosion rings through the air. Various body parts goes flying through the air. The head of a man even lands right in front me.

"Holy crap!" Daniel said.

Both me and Daniel poked our heads out from our hiding place and saw that it was all cleared now. That explosion had taken out all the infected that were attacking the house.

"I guess that saves us a few bullets." I said.

"Yes." Daniel said.

We went towards the house that was attacked just a few moments ago. As we went towards the house, I reloaded my shotgun, leaving me with nineteen shots.

"After you." Daniel said.

I opened the door very easily (which I found odd since the infected were having trouble opening it just a few seconds ago). When it opened all the way, I heard a grasp. Then, I heard a human voice.

"Stand back, you bitches! I have a fuckin' gun!"

Propped up against a wall was a boy. He looked like he was in his late teens. He also wore jeans with a light blue hoodie jacket. In his hands was a revolver that looked like the Smith & Wesson Model 29 that Daniel's dad uses. Smoke was coming from the end of the gun barrel.

The boy looked like hammered shit. There was a small blood trail that led to him. There was blood streaming down from his chest. Both of his knees were bleeding and he had a black eye.

"Calm down, kid. We're only here to help you." Daniel said as he raised his gun. I raised my shotgun too.

"Then why did you raise your fucking gun?" the kid asked.

"That's because **you** raised your gun." Daniel replied.

"We'll lower our guns if you lower yours. And plus, you're in no condition to fight back. There's two of us and only one of you...do the math." I said.

The kid hesitated. Then, he lowers his gun. Both me and Daniel did the same. A silence spread throughout the house when we lowered our weapons...

I decided to break the silence by saying, "So...I guess we might as well start by introducing ourselves. I'm Ryan and he's Daniel."

"I'm Seamus."

"Okay...Seamus, So tell me, What happened here?" Daniel asked.

Seamus raised his hand and pointed towards a corner of the room. In the corner of the room that Seamus pointed at were two corpses on top of each other. The bottom corpse had a knife stabbed into his head. The top corpse was laying on his back, on his forehead were two bullet holes, two fresh blood trails were streaming down the sides of his face..

"It's a long story...So, you might want to settle down." Seamus said.

"I've stand watch as you're telling your story." I said as I went towards the door. I had my shotgun in my hands.

"Alright." Daniel and Seamus said simultaneously.

_30 Minutes Earlier..._

_Seamus' POV_

"_C'mon Eddie, I'm sure there's some supplies in this fuckin' house." I said._

_Eddie was about a year older than me. We've known each other since freshman year in high school. He had his father's gun. His dad fuckin' turned and I had to kill him before he killed Eddie or worse..._

_Anyways, we were headed towards the local middle school because we heard that the military was there to take survivors to a safe zone. Anywhere was better than this fucking hell-hole. So, we decided to go there._

_Eddie was running low on ammo and all I had was a switchblade knife. Eddie only had about ten bullets left for his gun. I've had the switchblade since my old man started becoming paranoid about recent crime rates increasing several months back. I don't know why. I haven't used it since the shit hit the fan._

_We made it inside the house without Eddie wasting any of his bullets and without me getting my fucking hands dirty. But what surprised us was that the house was already occupied. Standing in the middle of the living room was a six-foot tall man. In his hands was a machete covered and dripping in blood._

_I swear...I felt shivers down my spine each time the man spoke._

_He turned around and saw us and said, "State your business."_

"_Dude, we're just looking-" Eddie said._

"_Bullshit! You're here to take me away, aren't you?" the man interrupted._

"_What?" I said._

"_You're here to take me to jail!" the man said._

"_What are you fucking-" I said._

"_You're not taking me away alive!" The man said._

"_Eddie! Your gun!" I said._

_Right when Eddie raised his gun, the man runs up to him and punches him in his stomach causing Eddie to double over. The man slashes at him with his machete. Lucky for Eddie, He only managed to get a large cut on his chest. The man punches Eddie right in the face. The punch was so strong, it caused him to fall on the ground with a thud. The man takes Eddie's gun and starts walking towards me. _

_As he walked towards me, he said, "I am innocent of any crimes."_

"_I never fuckin' said-" I started._

"_Shut up, you asshole!" He raised Eddie's gun._

_Before he could pull the trigger, I charged at him with my knife. We had a brief struggle. In that brief struggle, the man had managed to punch me right in the eye. He had stopped me from stabbing him by grabbing my hand with his own free hand, just inches from his stomach. I saw a smirk growing on his face. I looked to his hand that held Eddie's gun. He pulls the trigger._

_The bullet had shot me square in the chest. The shock from the shot caused me to drop my knife and caused me to back into a wall. I noticed something blinking at the corner of my eye, I don't know why...but I thought that it was important to keep a mental note about that. Then, he speaks again._

"_I'm not gonna kill you...But, I will make you suffer." He whispered. He points the gun at me and fired twice._

_I let out a scream. The pain courses through my knees. He had shot both of my kneecaps._

_He speaks again._

"_I just lost my sweet sweet daughter...and you have made me suffer from her death. I wasn't gonna kill you. But I thought..."What the hell?" I should make your friend suffer instead."_

"_But you got the wrong fucking people! Me and Eddie have never hurt anybody." I didn't say anything about the countless infected that we had killed on our way here._

_He points the gun at me once again. I closed my eyes and waited for the gun to go off._

…_.._

_But it never came. I opened my eyes and saw Eddie and the man engaged in a fist fight...But it looked like Eddie was losing. They exchanged several punches. But the fight ended when the man kicks him in the face which caused him to fall to the ground on his back._

_While they were fighting, I spotted Eddie's gun just several meters away from where I was. I got down and started to crawl towards it. The sounds of their battle can be heard as I crawled towards the gun._

_The man gets on top of Eddie and picked up something off the ground and stabs into Eddie's face. Eddie lets out a scream that was so loud, it could probably shatter windows. Then, Eddie's body went limp. It turned out that the thing the man picked up was my knife. Eddie was definitely dead...Nobody can survive a stab to the face. _

_Right when he killed Eddie, I had the gun in my hands. The man raised his head and looked at me right in time for me to raise the gun and pull the trigger. I had shot the man right on his forehead. I took a short pause (I don't know why though...), then pulled the trigger again. The man went limp after he got shot again._


	5. Ch 5 House Cleaning

**Author's Note: I haven't written any notes because I haven't had anything to say lately. But now I do.**

**Readers, please give me some feedback. I don't if y'all are enjoying this. (I do know there are some people reading this story though.) I don't know if you like this or dislike it. Please give some feedback...it would be very helpful.**

**Anyways, here's the chapter.**

Present Day

Ryan's POV

"...And that is basically what happened. Poor Eddie. That bastard didn't deserve to die. Although, I am surprised that he lasted as long as he did. I always thought that I would be the one to die before he did." Seamus finished.

Seamus had just finished his story. By the time he was finished, it was probably around noon. It was the early morning when he had started. Halfway through his story, me and Daniel switched places. He was now on watch.

"You never explained the explosion that caused all the infected outside to explode." I said.

"You saw that?" Seamus asked. Both me and Daniel nodded.

"Oh yeah...Remember the fucking blinking I mentioned? Yeah, it was a fuckin' bomb. When you light the fuse, it will emit a beeping sound that attracts all nearby fuckers after a few seconds and Boom! So, I crawled to it, grabbed it, lit it with a match, and chucked it out the window." He explained.

I went over to Eddie's and the machete man's bodies and started looking through them.

"Hey! What the fuck are you doing?" Seamus asked.

"I'm looking through their corpses. They might have something useful on them." I answered.

Daniel was still on watch. Although, he hasn't made a single sound at all. He was just watching the scene outside. His six-shooter was gripped tightly in his hands. He also looked like he was in deep thought. What was he thinking about?

"You can't do that! That's disrespectful." Seamus said.

"Disrespectful? One of these guys almost killed you. And don't worry, I'm not gonna take anything off of Eddie's body. I just want...Wait...what's this?" I said.

There was an audio diary that was on the machete man's person. It was labeled, "Dennis Woodcocks: The House Search."

"...What did you find?" Daniel asked. Oh, now you speak.

"An audio diary. I found it in the man's pockets. It even has the man's name on it. "Dennis Woodcocks.""

"What the hell kind of name is Woodcocks?" Seamus asked.

"I don't know. Let's listen, should we?"

I pressed the "play" Button.

"_I finally got my hands on one of these audio diaries. I'll been meaning to-"_

The sound of knocking could be heard, cutting off Woodcocks' thought.

"_Oh hello there officers, what can I do for you?"_

A second voice comes on. Obviously, the police officer's. His voice was followed by a second.

"_We have a warrant to search your house. We have reason to suspect that you murdered your daughter several weeks ago. Corporal Lane, keep Mr. Woodcocks in check."_

"_Alright, Parker."_

The sound of rummaging can heard. Soon, Woodcocks said something.

"_Officer, I'm innocent. You're just-"_

"_Be quiet!"_

"_But I...Fine."_

After a moment, the sound of rummaging continues. Then, they stopped. The sound of something snapping and clicking can be heard soon after.

"_What the-?!"_

"_Mr. Woodcocks, you are arrested for the murder of Winnie Woodcocks."_

"_This is ridiculous! I didn't kill anybody!"_

"_You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will-...Officer Lane, are you okay?"_

The sound of coughing can be heard. After the coughing ended, A groan can be heard.

"_Officer Lane? What are you-AHHHHH! MY ARM!"_

Then, Woodcocks' voice came back on.

"_What the? What's...What's happening? Stay back, Officer! I don't want to hurt you!"_

The sound of several gunshots can be heard which was followed by static, ultimately ending the recording.

"Damn...This "Woodcocks" was insane!" I said.

"You're telling me. He almost fuckin' killed me!" Seamus said.

"He probably-"

"Guys, I see a horde coming this way!" Daniel said.

I walked towards Daniel and looked out the window. And he was right. There **was** a horde coming. I looked towards Seamus and saw that he was defenseless. I went back to Woodcocks' corpse and started searching his body again. It had to be here...There it is!

"Seamus! I found his machete. Here." I said. I dropped it on the ground and kicked it towards him. The machete stops sliding right next to him. He picks it up.

"They're here." Daniel said.

"They're right outside the fuckin' door!" Seamus said.

Daniel backs away from the door and fires his whole clip into the door. I fired all eight shots. I hear Daniel reloading his Diamondback. I reloaded too. Halfway through my reloading, The infected broke through the door and they started flooding into the house.

I stopped reloading and smacked some of them away. I fired my shotgun once again (despite it being full-empty). After a while, the house was cleared of the infected. I looked towards my allies. Daniel was reloading his gun. And Seamus was taking several deep breaths.

"We're cleared." Daniel said between breaths.

During the fight, I counted my shots. I had used a total of eleven shots, leaving me with only thirteen bullets, which included the ones already loaded in my shotgun. Daniel was probably in the single digits when it came to bullet count.

The machete in Seamus' hands was covered in blood. He was surrounded by a pile of corpses. I'm surprised he was in one piece considering the fact that both of his knees were out.

"Daniel, how much bullets do you have left?" I asked.

"About nine left." Daniel said.

"Make that nineteen." Seamus said.

"What?" Daniel said.

"You can take Eddie's fucking ammo." Seamus said.

"Really?" I said.

"On one fuckin' condition." Seamus said.

"Name it." Daniel said.

"You kill me with one of those fuckin' bullets..." Seamus said.

A chill ran down my spine as he said those words.


	6. Ch 6 Hesitating Fate

Ryan's POV

"Are you serious?" Daniel asked.

The time was probably around 2 o' clock in the afternoon. The house that me and two of my friends were in was filled with lots of corpse of the infected. We had just spent the last few minutes defending ourselves against a horde of them. I was starting to run low on bullets for my shotgun. Seamus, one of my friends, had just requested us to kill him.

"Of course I'm fuckin' serious." Seamus replied.

"But why?" I asked.

"Because that last battle made me realize something, I can't defend myself against a fucking attack like that. I didn't even make it out of that battle without a bite." Did he just imply that he was bitten?

"Were you bitten?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah...on my fuckin' shoulder." Seamus replied.

I went to him and pulled off part of his hoodie and saw that he was bitten. The shoulder that was bitten had a large bite mark and it was bleeding a little.

"He's right, he was bitten..." I said.

"I don't know how fuckin' long I have...Daniel, please kill me." Seamus said.

Daniel had his revolver in his hands. He couched down to be leveled with Seamus' eye level. He held the gun up to his forehead, but he didn't pull the trigger. The hand that held the gun was visibly shaking. He was hesitating...

"Come on, Daniel. Do it!" Seamus said.

Daniel's hands started to shake more. Then, he pulled away.

"I can't...I can't do it..." Daniel said. His voice was shaking. He walked out the door of the house.

"Awww, You're such a fuckin' pansy! How about you, Ryan?" Seamus said.

I froze in place upon him turning his attention to me.

"...Maybe, just give me a moment to talk to him." I said.

"Well, hurry the fuck up! I don't know how long I have." Seamus said.

I walked out the door to follow Daniel. His gun was back in its holster.

"Daniel..." I said.

"Ryan...I can't kill him. Even if he is gonna turn into one of them." He said.

"You don't have to, I will. But why can't you do? You've killed plenty of the infected." I said.

"Because the infected are a completely different story. They ain't human...or at least not anymore. Seamus, on the other hand, is still completely human even if he is bitten. I can't take a living life." He replied.

"Alright, I understand." I left Daniel to his thoughts. And started to walk back to where I left Seamus.

This is strange. I have never seen this side of Daniel before. He's like a completely different person...

"Alright Seamus, Ready?" I said as I took out my shotgun.

"Yes, do it!" Seamus said.

He seemed so eager to die. Maybe he just wants to be out of this living hell that we use to call Earth. Maybe he just couldn't live anymore without his knees since they're broken. Or maybe he just lost hope that humanity will return to normal. Either way, he wanted to die.

I couched down with my shotgun like Daniel had previously did. Then, I pressed the barrel of the gun to his forehead.

Before I pulled the trigger, I said, "I'm sorry, my friend."

I turned my head to look away from him. Then, I pulled the trigger. The sound of the shotgun blast echoed throughout the house...or at least in my mind it did. I pumped my shotgun again. The empty shell of the buckshot that killed Seamus ejected from my gun and landed on the blood-covered floor.

I don't know why, but I picked up the buckshot and placed it in my pants pocket. I took the gun that was still in Seamus' hands (it was the Smith & Wesson) and stashed it away in my bullet pouch. I also took the machete that he previously used against the attack of the infected. I went to Eddie and Woodcock's corpses and took the bullets off of Eddie's body. Right when I was gonna leave the house, I realized I didn't check Seamus' body.

So, I went to his body and searched it. All I found was an audio diary partially covered in blood; it was labeled, "Seamus: Eyes of an Animal." The place that was suppose to have his last name was smudged off, rendering it illegible. I pressed the "play" button and listened.

Here is what I heard:

_Eddie finally gave me this fuckin' audio diary even after he promised to buy me it several weeks ago. Anyways, on my way home from class, a man fuckin' attacked me! He tried to bite me. While I was trying to get him away from me, I looked into his fuckin' eyes. They...they were different from normal eyes. When I looked into his fuckin' eyes, it was like as if there wasn't anything human about them, they were like the eyes of a fuckin' animal. I managed to get away from him after a while. Something tells me that that man has this so-called "Green Flu" everyone has been going on about. I think I should take Eddie and-_

A gunshot is heard in the background of the recording which was followed by a scream.

_What the hell? Was that...was that a gun going off? Eddie?! Shit, I gotta go now!_

The recording ended on that. I guessed this was recorded when the outbreak had just started. The gun that went off in the background was probably Eddie's gun.

Daniel was still outside. He was staring off into the distance. He was silent; I'm guessing he was deep in thought. I went up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned towards me.

"Don't worry, Daniel. He's at peace now." I said.

He didn't say anything. The expression on his face was indifferent, calm, relaxed.

"Come on. Let's get to that outpost. We can't forget why we're out here in the first place."

Still he didn't say anything. I stopped walking and faced him.

"Daniel, You have got to snap out of it!" I said.

He didn't respond.

"Damn it, Daniel! I said snap out of it!" Then, I slapped him across the face.

My slap left a red mark on his cheek.

He shakes himself awake and said, "Oh my god...I'm sorry for being like that. I needed that slap."

I gave him the bullets that I got off of Eddie's gun.

"Thanks." Daniel said.

"C'mon, let's-" I started.

Then, the roar of the horde rings through the air, interrupting me mid-sentence.


	7. Ch 7 Picking Up the Pieces

Ryan's POV

The roar of the horde echoes through the air once again.

"Daniel, They're coming!" I said.

"You think I don't know that?!" He replied.

Coming into my field of view, I see the actual horde approaching. It was a decent sized horde; Probably about 35, maybe 40 of them. They were running and they looked as blood thirsty as ever. I draw my shotgun and raised it to fire. I was about pull the trigger...only to realize that the horde wasn't coming towards me **or** Daniel. In fact, they were running around us. I guess they are after something else.

"What the hell?" Daniel said.

"I guess something or someone else is attracting them." I said.

"If they're attracted to someone else that might mean more survivors. Let's follow them. We might be able to help who ever caught their attention."

"If that's case, let's go!"

Daniel draws his revolver and starts running to where the horde was going with me right behind him. As we ran, I noticed we ran past multiple looted shops and stores. It was the same old same old; broken windows, broken displays, abandoned cars, etc. The horde started going into a neighborhood. Then, several gunshots ring out through the air. The gunshots sounded similar to my shotgun.

"Gunshots!" Daniel yelled.

"Well, of course, genius." I yelled back.

Immediately after we yelled, we heard something new.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The word echoes through the air. I have never heard anyone say the word "No" like that before. Something didn't go according to plan. What happened?

After a while, we come upon something new. The horde were all converging on one store. The "Tank Goods N' Sales". Several more gunshots ring through the air.

Coming from the store, we hear a male voice yelling, "YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLED HER! I'LL FREAKIN' KILL YOU ALL!" Something tells me the infected had killed someone special to the man inside.

"Ryan, come here." Daniel said from behind a car. I went to him.

"Let's just wait till this guy is done. Otherwise, **we **might end up getting shot."

I thought about it for several seconds as more gunshots ring through the air and then said, "You're probably right."

After a while, the shotgun fire stopped. Both me and Daniel poked our heads out of our cover and looked into the store. Standing in the middle of the store was a single figure couched down, their hands were covering his face. I'm guessing that was the survivor that fired the shotgun earlier.

"I'll go in there and check if the survivor is okay. He seems a little...on the edge. Follow me at a distance. Be sure to have your Diamondback out." I said.

"Alright, be careful, Ryan." Daniel replied back as he drew out his revolver.

"Thanks." I said back.

I slowly made my way to the entrance of "Tank Goods N' Sales." I had to maneuver my way through the countless number of corpses of infected that the unnamed survivor had slaughtered. I had to move some of the bodies out of the way that blocked the door to the store. I looked over my shoulder and saw that Daniel was still watching me, I even saw him give me a thumbs up and a smile. He mouthed the words, "Keep going. You're almost in." I nodded back at him. I opened the door and entered the store.

Despite the fact that I was inside the store, I could still look outside because there was a big, broken window that was destroyed in the unnamed survivor's shooting. I made my way to the unnamed survivor that I came for. I could hear him sobbing as I made my way to him. I also noticed that his shotgun was lying next to him, smoke was coming from the barrel of the gun. I couldn't quite see what he was crying over. Once I made it to him, I tapped him on the shoulder and spoke to him.

Once I got a closer look at him, I managed to see what he looked like. He wore a black hoodie with a black tank top underneath it. He also wore a pair of jeans with some black sneakers. His hoodie was partially covered in blood. I looked over his shoulder and saw that he was crying over a blood covered body that had a missing leg and a missing arm.

"Hey, are you okay?" I said in a soft voice. I spoke in the soft voice because I had a feeling he needed comfort.

He said something in reply, but I couldn't hear him because he spoke so quietly.

"Didn't catch that. Could you repeat that?"

"They killed her..." he said. I managed to hear what he said this time, but I had to strain my ears.

"They killed her? Who?"

"They took her and ripped her to pieces..."

It seems like he wasn't paying attention to anything I was saying. His voice was slowly raising in volume.

"Look buddy, I just want to help. Everything's gonna be okay. Me and my friend-"

"They took her away from me!" The survivor continued, interrupting me.

"Oh crap..." I said. I knew where this was headed. He has become one of the psychos.

"You will **all** pay!"

"But what did I-!"

Then, he basically threw himself at me, interrupting me once again. Then, he started punching me. He punched me twice before I threw him off of me and pulled out my shotgun. I fired one buckshot at him, but he merely flinched like as if it was just kick from a boot. What the hell? Was his rage so blinding that he didn't feel the pellets or the pain? How can anyone survive a point-blank buckshot from a shotgun? That doesn't even make sense!

He picked up his own shotgun and pointed it at me. Before he fired, I drove behind one of store aisles for cover. The pellets from his shotgun hit the aisle I was hiding behind instead of me. Where the hell is Daniel? He's suppose to be helping me...or at least covering me.

"Come on out...I won't hurt you."

Like hell he wasn't gonna hurt me.

"I only-ARRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHH!"

A gunshot rings out interrupting what he was saying except this gunshot didn't sound anything like a shotgun. In fact, it sounded like Daniel's diamondback.

I poked my head out from behind the aisle and saw the psycho stumbling around, he was clutching his upper chest. He had dropped his shotgun on the ground. Even from where I was standing, I could hear him groaning in pain. I could kind of make out a bloodstain that wasn't there before. I looked around the store and saw Daniel clear on the other side of the store, his gun was raised.

The psycho stumbles into a nearby aisle. That particular aisle was the frozen meat aisle. I heard an infected groaning from there while I was making my way to the psycho earlier. Then, the psycho screams again. The sounds of the infected feasting on the psycho can be heard. I walked to the aisle and found him his body there, but no infected. Around his body was a puddle of blood and a bunch of rose petals...Wait, rose petals? Why are there rose petals around his body? And what happened to the infected that killed him?

Daniel shortly joins me in the aisle and looks at the body.

"Oh...damn!" Daniel said.

"Yeah, I almost feel sorry for him." I agree.

"Let's check his body for supplies."

"Alright."

I went over to the body and started to check his pockets. There weren't anything useful on him. The only thing I found on him were some empty shotgun shells and an audio diary. The audio diary was labeled, "Chris "Yami": How We Met." I'm guessing the "Yami" was a nickname.

"Daniel, the only thing that is worth any value on him is an audio diary." I said.

"Well, alright then. Let's listen to it." He replied.

I pressed the "play" button and we both listened to it. At first, it was just the voice of the psycho (before he went insane), but he was soon joined by another voice. A feminine voice.

"_Alright, Amy. It's recording. What do you want to tell the audio diary?"_

"_I want to tell it how we met." _

"_How about we tell it together?"_

"_Sure; I'll start. It was just several months ago. I went to a restaurant for lunch. After I was finished eating, I got the bill, but it wasn't my bill. It was someone else's."_

"_As it turned out, it was my bill. The waiters had mixed up our bills. So, he comes over and we exchanged the bills. We paid them and then after awhile, we started talking to each other."_

"_We talked for hours. We got to know each other and before I knew it, we started seeing each other more often."_

"_We've been going out ever since. I'm so happy we met each other, Amy."_

"_Me too, Chris."_

A giggle can be heard at the end of the recording...

**Author's Note: Chris "Yami" is actually another Fanfiction user. He had asked me if he could be featured in the story. We talked. And this is what he gets, a cameo. He had chosen to remain anonymous. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter.**

**Anyways, if you would like to be feature as a cameo character, just pm me and we'll discuss details about it. You'll get a chance at being featured as a cameo character just like "Yami" in this chapter.**


	8. Ch 8 Euthanasia

Daniel's POV

"Alright Ryan, we won't be needing that diary anymore." I said

"Yeah, I'll put it back on him." He replied.

After he put the diary back on "Yami's" body, we went back to the front of the store. As we went to the front of the store, I noticed the pieces of a corpse in the dry foods aisle. Like "Yami's" body, there were rose petals around the limbs and body parts. Where did this rose petals come from? Do they have a meaning? And the body...Was this Amy's body?

"Daniel, I feel kind of sorry for Chris." Ryan said.

"Well, there ain't much that we could have done for him. I was watching, you tried to talk to him." I said back.

"But...It feels like I could have done more."

I placed my hand on his shoulder and said, "Don't worry about it, buddy. You've done all that you could. The guy was well over the point of no return."

"You're probably right..."

By the time we were done talking, we were back outside. There were several stray infected just walking around. Ryan takes out his shotgun and starts shooting at them. I took out my diamondback and started doing the same, killing about three of them. After all the strays were dead, I scanned my surroundings.

We were in the middle of a small street that had many looted stores. Several of the stores had broken windows; other stores had boarded up windows. In addition to the stores, There were lots of abandoned cars on the street.

"Hey Daniel, have you noticed that there has been more military stuff around here? You think that outpost is around here?" Ryan yelled. I looked over to him and saw that he had gone up ahead while I was surveying the area. He was literally at the opposite end of the street.

But now that he mentions it, I'll noticed that too. There were a lot more military "stuff" around. There were more barb wire around. There were humvees. There were military shipping crates (empty though). In fact, up ahead, there was a tank just parked there, sitting idly.

On the door to one of the humvees was a corpse that was propped up. On the corpse's neck was a bite mark and on the forehead was a bullet hole; there was a trail of dry blood coming down his face that originated from the bullet hole. In the corpse's hand was an audio diary and one of those clip-on, two-way radios. The audio diary was labeled, "Sgt. Mayer: One Of the Best." I looked on the corpse's shoulder and saw the insignia of a sergeant, the same insignia my dad wore on his own shoulder when he was in uniform.

"Ryan, come over here! I found an audio diary and a two-way radio on a corpse here." I called.

"**AHHHHH**!"

I got back up on my feet and rushed to where Ryan was. He sounded like he was in trouble. Then, I hear Ryan's shotgun go off. Soon, I found him behind the tank. He was on the ground with his shotgun in his hands. In front of him was a headless corpse. He was alive.

"Ryan? Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, that guy startled me!"

"What happened?"

"I was looking at this tank and I noticed that this corpse was here. I went to check for a heart beat and then, the body started to growl. He almost grabbed me!"

"It's okay, Ryan. He's dead now."

I got him back on his feet.

"Don't worry about me. I'm alright...j-just a little shaken up." He said.

He continues and says, "Now, you were saying you found an audio diary and a radio?"

"Yeah, it's back where I found a body."

"Okay, let's go check it out."

We got back to where the body was and I picked up the recorder. Ryan takes it out my hands and examines it for a few seconds. Then, he presses "play." The recording starts with the sounds of heavy panting and gunshots ringing in the background. Eventually, the panting slows down and the gunshots stop. Then, a voice comes on. I assume this voice belonged to Mayer.

"_Corporal Brooks, I don't think I'm gonna make it...I was bitten back there; the bite is on my arm. I'm surprised I even walked out of there in one piece. Listen, I didn't tell this to the other boys, (May they rest in peace)...but I always thought that you were one of best soldiers that I have ever trained. I have taught you everything I know and you took them and improved on them. Gun handling, accuracy, reloading, ammo management...you name it. In fact, I'm surprised you haven't been promoted to sergeant yet. I would have recorded this in my journal, but I can't seem to find the damn thing anywhere...Anyways, we have killed many of those...things. And out of everyone in our unit, only you and me made it out of Fort Greene alive. I have but one last order for you as your sergeant. I want you to shoot me...right in head. I don't know how long I have till I...turn. I don't want to become one of **them**. That is the last thing I want. Do it quick."_

A different voice comes on. It was a female's voice; I even heard some southern in that voice. I'm guessing it's Brooks.

"_Yes sir, ah understand."_

Then, a loud gunshot is heard. After the shot, Brooks spoke again.

"_Ya were a good man, Mayer. Ah feel honored ta have been in the same unit as ya...ah'm going to leave behind the recorder and yer radio here...in case anybody else comes through here. Rest in peace, Mayer. If anybody hears this message, try ta contact me through Mayer's radio."_

The recording ended there...

Ryan's POV

The audio diary that Daniel had found had just finished relaying its message. The message makes me wonder if Brooks would have been promoted like the sergeant had said. Speaking of what the sergeant said, it sounds like the outpost was overrun by the infected. What should we do if the outpost was overrun? Where will we go?

"Daniel, I'm guessing the outpost has been overrun, if the sergeant was bitten." I said.

"Yeah, you're probably right. We should try to use the radio to contact this Brooks. (Which, by the way, I'm surprised to find out is actually a girl. Mayer made Brooks sound like a guy.)" Daniel said.

"Yeah, let's try."

I picked up the radio and pressed the "on" button. As soon as I pressed the button, it made a crackling sound that you would kind of expect from a radio. There was some static coming out of the device. Regardless, I spoke into it.

"Hello?"

There was a brief pause before a feminine voice surrounded by static responded.

"Hello? -survivor-? -bad signal. -can't hear...Ah-...move-...different...contact-...then." 

"What was she trying to say? I could barely make out what she was trying to say." I said.

"Yeah, too much static." Daniel said.

"What should we do until we can get a hold of her again?"

"Survive; There are many of **them** wandering towards our direction!"

I looked over my shoulder and sure enough, there were infected wandering around the street. Did they come from the outpost? Or were they were a bunch of strays? Or were they a mix of both? Where ever they came from, there were a lot of them around now.

I was just about to fire my shotgun towards the wandering strays. When I just realized something...

"Daniel, They're not attacking us." I said.

"Yeah, you're right. They're just...wandering around...like "wanderers." In fact, that might be a good name for them. "Wanderers." I like that name." Daniel said.

"Look out!"

I raised my gun and fired behind Daniel. One of the "wanderers" came too close to him.

"Whoa...thanks, buddy."

I nodded at him and smiled.

"If they wander too close, don't be afraid to shoot them!" Daniel said.

So, we stayed behind the tank, killing any wanderers that got too close. Daniel killed a few. I killed a few. After a while, I was down to my last bullet, I kept count of my shots. I told Daniel about my last bullet and then, I switched to my machete that I got off of Seamus to save it. The blood on the blade had dried up at this point.

"Ryan, save that last bullet. You never know when you're gonna be needing it." Daniel said.

"I know that." I replied with a nod.

Then, a voice came back on the radio. This time it was much more clear. No static. It was clearly a feminine voice with a southern accent.

However, there were still some wanderers around. Daniel covered me as I was talking to her.

"Alright, Survivors? Can ya hear me now?" the voice said.

"Yeah, we can hear you just fine now." I said.

"Ah'm Alexis Brooks. Who is dis...if ya don't mind me askin'?

"This is Ryan. I'm not alone, by the way, I have a friend with me. We're both close to Fort Greene where we found this radio."

"Really? Whatever ya do, don't go in ta the outpost; it's been overrun. And also, sorry 'bout the static earlier, ah was goin' through a tunnel."

"Don't worry about the static, it's okay. And yeah, we know that from what we heard from the audio diary that your sergeant left behind."

There was a brief pause before Brooks responded.

"...Y'all heard Mayer's recording?"

"Yeah, that's where we got the idea for contacting you. Where are you, anyways?"

"Ah'll just arrived ta a saferoom right now. Ah'm on mah way to the local middle school. That's where thar's gonna be an evacuation, but I ain't too far from the outpost."

Huh, a saferoom. I remember hearing rumors about those. Those saferooms are usually packed with supplies and ammunition for any survivors that come across it. Now if I remember correctly, the local middle school is called "Athens Middle School," or "AMS" for short.

"Really? Me and my friend will head there now. We might even meet up on the way there."

"Okay, Ah will stay in this saferoom til' y'all are here. Listen, on ya way here, Can y'all bring that recorder wit' ya too?"

"Alright, will do."

"Talk ta ya later then. Brooks over and out."

"Alright, bye."

I clipped the radio onto my belt and said, "Alright Daniel, you heard the lady. Let's go."

"Are you sure you want to head there? The school is on the other side of town. And we don't have enough ammo to go there."

"Alexis said she's in a saferoom. If the rumors I've heard about them are true, then we'll find ammo, food, and supplies in them. She said that she "ain't" too far from here."

"Okay, fine. Let's go then."

The street was cleared of all wanderers from either Daniel or from just wandering away, out of our view. The sun was starting to set and night was approaching. I had Sgt. Mayer's audio diary in my ammo pouch, mostly because I didn't know where else to put it. I still had Eddie's S&W in there.

The apartments that had Daniel's apartment was towards the north. The school, however, was towards the east. I know this because before the outbreak started, me and Daniel were locals to this town. The house that I had lived in before the outbreak got overrun by the infected, so I went to Daniel hoping his apartment would promise a safe haven (and you know how that turned out).

In the distance, the sounds of groaning, burping, and gagging can be heard.

"Did you hear that?" Daniel said.

"Yeah, sounds like something new." I replied.

"It seems like the infection is getting worse." Daniel said.

We were, slowly, getting farther and farther from our previous goal. There were still humvees around, but as we got further away, they started to appear less frequently. The groaning and the gagging sounds continued. This time the sounds were joined with a barely audible growling. The sounds were getting louder and they were starting to make me feel anxious and uneasy.

"Ryan, keep your eyes peeled. I don't like the sound of that low growling." Daniel whispered.

"I know, the sounds are making me nervous." I whispered back.

Suddenly, from behind one of the last humvees, an infected appeared before us. This infected had a large, bloated belly. The infected had massive boils and tumors all over its body. Then, it did something both me and Daniel didn't expect. It puked on us! The vomit that it had covered us in got into my eyes, blurring my vision.

"Aww, damn it! I can't see a damn thing!" Daniel said.

"I can't too!" I said.

The subtle sound of buzzing can just barely be heard. The sound of multiple footsteps can be heard. Then, blurred figures started to approach me. The blurred figures were obviously the infected, so I started swing my machete to repel them. I heard Daniel's gun going off several times. After a few seconds of swing around aimlessly, A high-pitched, shrieking sound can be heard. The shrieking sound was shortly followed by a blood-curdled scream.

"**AHHHHHHHHHH!**"

I quickly wiped the vomit/bile out of my eyes that the infected had puked on me and saw that Daniel was literally being ripped apart by one of the infected. This infected was wearing a hoodie and sneakers. Rose petals was littering the floor around the infected and Daniel.

"**RYAN! HEEEEEELP!" **Daniel screamed.

I started to run towards them, killing all the infected that dared to stand in my way. When I finally got to them, I took out my gun and fired my last bullet at the infected. The infected made a yelping sound. The infected stopped clawing at Daniel, looked at me, and jumped away. The infected was out of sight. In the split-second that the infected looked at me, I didn't know then, but there was something different about that infected.

Daniel was a mess; The infected had clawed away at his chest. The infected had clawed it open. There was blood everywhere. His injuries were so fatal that not even a first-aid kit could save him. Daniel was groaning heavily. Daniel looked towards me, there was sadness and dread in his eyes.

"Ryan...dying...can't...survive." Daniel said.

"Daniel, please don't die! I need you!" I said. I felt tears coming to my eyes. My vision was slowly being blurred by them.

"Here..." He reached into his back satchel and pulled out an audio diary. There was blood on the recorder...Daniel's blood. I took the audio diary.

"So much...pain.."

Daniel coughed, then continued, "Take...guns and supplies...Go to...Alexis..."

He was suffering. I looked around and saw Daniel's diamondback lying on the ground next to him. I had no choice, I had to put him out of his misery. I grabbed the gun and pulled back the hammer.

I sniffled and said, "I'm sorry, brother. But, I have to do this."

"Its...okay...Do...it" Daniel said between coughs.

"I'm sorry..."

My tears were free flowing at this point. I held the gun towards his forehead. I looked away and pulled the trigger. He was killed almost the same way that Seamus was killed. After the..."deed" was done, a heavy silence hung in the air. Only my sobs could be heard.

After awhile, I wiped away the tears and took all of Daniel's supplies (his satchel, his gun, his pouch, his extra ammo, everything). I was done crying. I needed a place to go and gather my thoughts and bearings. I looked around and saw a house that looked like it could hold out for awhile. I went inside and placed Daniel's satchel on the table. I had made sure that the door was locked. I didn't realize it until now, but Daniel's audio diary was still in my hands.

I looked at the audio diary. It was labeled, "Daniel: To Ryan, My Last Wishes." I pressed the "play" button and listened. As I was listening, the tears slowly started to return to my eyes...

This was what was on the recording:

_Ryan, by the time you hear this, I'm probably dead. I knew that I would die eventually given the "circumstances." This message was recorded while you were dozing off back at the convenience store after the giant knocked you out. Now listen, I don't mind dying...in fact, I welcome it; Nobody lives forever. My life was one hell of a ride. You and our dads made it awesome. I'll rest in peace knowing that you will live on._

_Ryan, no matter what happens...don't give up hope. I'm sure someday, mankind will live though this. Mankind **will** survive. Mankind always found a way to bounce back. I hope someday that you will live to see that day._

_And now the main message...Ryan, I'm asking this as your best friend. Please find our dads. Something tells me that they're still out there. They're tough. I'm sure that they are still alive somewhere out there. Please find them. And be sure to give them my regards._

_I better wrap this up before I get cut off by the time limit of this recording. Ryan, never give up hope. Good bye, Ryan. You were always a good friend._

The recording ended there...

Nobody's POV

The full moon hung in the sky providing some illumination to the world below. The smell of blood and rotten flesh was in the air tonight. Those smells were in the air because of the green flu. Mankind will never be the same because of the green flu outbreak. Loved ones and friends that were infected were turned against each other. Some turned to taking their own life away just to escape this world. Some might even say that this was natural selection being played out on a grand scale. The strong survives and the weak either die out or get infected; if one gets infected, then they are as good as dead. Being infected is a fate worse than death.

Endless piles of bodies and corpses littered the ground in countless cities. Blood was starting to pool because of the piles. Occasionally, you might even come across a survivor that is clinging on to life and survival, but that would be a rare sight.

The green flu will continue to evolve. It will make even worse mutations that we have seen thus far as this outbreak continues. The green flu will never stop. One might even ask, "Will this infection ever end?" or "Will there ever be a cure?" Only time will tell...

_End of Part 1_


	9. Ch 9 The Weeks Gone By

_Part 2: Back To School_

**2 Weeks After First Infection...**

Ryan's POV

The world that you once knew is gone. The world has changed into a challenge of survival; you either fight or die. Not everyone is fit to survive the world in its current state. The infected roams the streets and homes, waiting for someone to walk by to snack on. The world has been like this for a fortnight.

It has been a week since Daniel has died (may he rest in peace)...I think I mostly am over his death. The room I am in is a safe-house that is loaded with guns, ammo, supplies, and food; it has enough supplies to last for probably half a week. Here with me are several other survivors. We have Alexis Brooks, Dallas Winston, and Eleanor Belle. Dallas and Eleanor both arrived at separate times over the past few days.

Ever since Daniel's death at the hands of the "Jumper" and the "Puker," I have been using the diamondback that he gave me along with the S&W that Seamus let me take from Eddie. I use them simultaneously. I have made a belt that lets me reload them both at the same time with speed-loaders. The belt has pre-loaded speed-loaders on them. The belt could hold up to ten speed-loaders. I still have my shotgun and my machete though. I also still have Daniel's satchel with me. As it turns out, it was chuck full of snacks and supplies; a bag of beef jerky, water, one molotov cocktail, and many other stuff. I remember throughout our short adventure to the outpost, I would ask him for a snack and he would just produce something out of his bag. I never did realize (until now) where he has been keeping the snacks from. Now, I'm using the bag to hold my ammo. I am still using my ammo pouch that I have on my belt though.

I'm not sure, but I think the only thing that is keeping me sane is Daniel's wish that he has given me through his audio diary...

"_Please find our dads. Something tells me that they're still out there..."_

I don't know why, but the trio thinks of me as their leader; they always listen to me and they show me respect. I do know one thing for sure though. Alexis, Dallas, and Eleanor are very helpful for keeping my sanity.

Alexis Brooks is a US army corporal with a southern accent. She is the reason why I'm inside this saferoom in the first place. I immediately liked her the first time we met in person. She had what others called "southern hospitality" and she has some leadership skills in her. Her weapon of choice is a short-barreled revolver, the colt python. At first, I thought it was the same revolver as the one that Daniel gave me, but she corrected me when I asked her about it. She also uses what she identified as the "M16A2," an assault rifle. When I told her of Daniel's death, she was sympathetic, supportive, and compassionate; in fact I remember she said, _"It's okay, Ryan. Ah'm sure Daniel would want ya ta move on." _She also wears a combat vest. She told me it's called the "CRV", or the Combat Ready Vest. The vest has many pockets in it and many said pockets are probably filled with supplies and ammo.

Dallas Winston is probably in his early-thirties. He would probably be the kind of person that one could describe as "all brawn and no brains." His hair is covered in grease and he wears a black, leather vest with a gray t-shirt under it. His arm is absolutely covered in an assortment of tattoos. One thing that you may notice about him is he has a ego so big that it could probably be able to fill a football stadium. He'll brag whenever he gets the chance. Another thing that you may notice is that he talks in third-person, which is something that takes a while to get use to; he talks like _"Hey! Open the door for Dallas!"_ (In fact, that was the first thing that me and Alexis first heard from him.) Dallas' weapon of choice is a double-barreled shotgun that has been modified to fit two shells in each barrel. I asked him why and how it was modified and as it turns out, his dad is (or was) a gunsmith who owns a gunshop, "Winston Guns". He wields his shotgun with only one hand. He also has a P226 pistol that he occasionally uses. I remember I found an audio diary with his name on it, but I forgot what it was about exactly.

Eleanor Belle, on the other hand, is the complete opposite of Dallas. The only similarity that she and Dallas share is that they use the same pistol, the P226. I had mentioned her before, back at "Little Joe's"; she was the girl that my friend, Austin, had helped (I never did found out what she needed help with though). She is around my age, she is probably about one month younger than me though. She has a modest personality which is why I said she was the opposite of Dallas. She is shy and soft-spoken, sometimes I have to strain my ears just to hear what she says. One thing that you might notice is that her right eye has patches of blue in them; she has partial heterochormia. Her main eye color is green however.

I asked her what happened to Austin when I recognized who she was, which was about an hour after she appeared at the safehouse door. (Don't blame me for not recognizing her immediately; we don't know each other very well, especially before the outbreak.) She told me that she and Austin got separated by a psycho who had a gun. She had manage to snatch the gun out of his hands and kill him with his own pistol, the very same one she uses now. She told me that she hopes that Austin is still alive somewhere out there. I didn't have the heart to tell her what happened to him. He was infected; I had to put him to rest several days ago...

A lot of events has occurred in the past week. One thing is that the green flu is getting worse. There are more nasty mutations and infected out there. So far, there has been the "Jumper," the "Puker," the "Cougher," the "Giant," the strays, the wanderers, and now, we have the "Leaper," the "Long Arm," the "Sobber," and the "Acider."

The "Leaper" is a small infected. He is often seen running around with a strange stature that reminds me of a spider-monkey. You can often hear his maniacal, hysterical laughter before he attacks. His form of attack is leaping on top of a victim's head and steering them into any form of danger. I always thought they were the weirdest type of infected yet.

The "Long Arm" is a large infected. One characteristic that the infection had added is his right arm has been bulked up to the size of a tree trunk. His height is similar to the Giant. His form of attacking is charging forward and slamming any victim that they have in their giant arm into the ground.

The "Sobber" is a female infected. She has the build of a starving woman. As her name implies, all she does is sob...uncontrollably. She has large claws for hands. I don't know how she attacks because I have never risked bugging her. She's like a spider; You don't mess with her, she doesn't mess with you.

Last, but not least, we have the "Acider" (pronounced Acid-er). Like the "Sobber," the "Acider" is a female infected. The infection has caused her neck to extend to an above-average length. Her form of attack is spitting at any and all victims. The spit instantly turns into a large pool of acid. This acid can be very painful if you stay in it for a short time.

Another thing that has happened over the past week is what happened several hours after Daniel's death. Here's what happened.

**Six Days Earlier...**

Ryan's POV

What am I going to do? My food and water supplies were running low. And my ammunition is starting to run low. I don't have any more ammo for my shotgun. All I have left to defend myself is my machete and three more bullets in the revolver that Daniel gave me. I used up most of my bullets on a Giant that I just fought not two hours ago.

I'm currently walking down a street. There were lots of Wanderers...well, wandering around. They would occasionally glance at me, but that is all they did. Strangely, there weren't that many abandoned cars around. However, one car stood out above the others. I went up to the driver side of the vehicle.

The woman in the seat wasn't moving, in her lap was an audio diary. The window was stopping me from getting the recording. I could barely make out what it said on the label; It said, "**House & Supplies**._"_ I looked at my gun, looked at the car window, then back at my gun. I guess I only have one way to access the recording.

I took the diamondback by the barrel and smashed the handle against the window. After the sound of glass breaking subsided, I holstered my gun and quickly grabbed the audio diary. I looked around to make sure it was safe and pressed the "play" button. The speaker was a man. Here is what he said.

"_Ana, my dear, I know you're busy with your job as a nurse (what with the green flu going around...), but I need you to come to my house as soon as possible. It feels like I'm going to go insane! With this illness going around and the infected roaming the streets, I have a feeling this whole thing ain't gonna blow over anytime soon. My house is full of food, water, and bullets. Be sure to bring the present I got for you yesteryear on your birthday. It might come in handy. You should also get here using your car; it would be a lot more safer if you do. Just in case you forgot where I live (you have been forgetful lately), I live at Dempsey Street. The house number is 2506. I know that you know about the spare key that I keep under the door mat. See you soon, honey."_

I'm guessing the woman was Ana. Her head was on the wheel, still not moving. I placed the audio diary back on the woman's lap and walked away. Hmm, the supplies that were mentioned in the recording would be very helpful to me. I looked at the nearby intersection and saw that I was already conveniently on Dempsey street. I looked around for the number that was mentioned. I had to walk by about three abandoned houses before I got to the house I wanted.

Before I tried to enter the house, I turned on the radio that I use to talk to Alexis and spoke into it.

"Alexis, you're going to have to wait a little longer. I'm going inside this house that has some supplies in it."

Soon, Alexis' voice replied; she said, "All right, Ryan. Good luck out thar."

I replied, "Thanks, Alexis."

I tried to open the door, but it was locked. Then, I remember the diary mentioned a key under the door mat. I looked down at the door mat and noticed several rose petals on the ground. I felt myself grow a little tense at the sight of them; rose petals aren't usually a good sign...Anyways, I went on my knees and lifted the door mat, revealing a small, sliver key. I took the key and with it, I unlocked the door. I replaced the key back under the mat.

I opened the door and saw that everything was a mess. Chairs were turned over, bullet casings littered the floor, and there was several decomposing, infected corpses shattered around the room. I noticed that the bullet casings made somewhat of a trail that led into a different room. After following the short trail, I was led to a corpse. This corpse had a human face, he wasn't infected, but there was dried blood on the side of his head. A P226 pistol and two audio diaries were in his hands. One of audio diaries was labeled, "**Jim: Locked Upstairs**." The other was labeled, "**Dallas Winston: Alone & Empty**."

I think my heart stopped for a split second when I heard the sound of low growling coming from upstairs...

**Author's Notes: Here is a list of the special infected translated into what we know them as (in case, you weren't sure what they really were).**

"**Leaper" - Jockey**

"**Long Arm" - Charger**

"**Sobber" - Witch**

"**Acider" - Spitter**

"**Jumper" - Hunter**

"**Puker" - Boomer**

"**Cougher" - Smoker**

"**Giant" - Tank**


	10. Ch 10 The Locked Rose

Ryan's POV

The low growling continued as I sat there with the audio diaries. I don't know what to do...The infected was upstairs. It could have been the same one that killed Daniel. Then, I realized I could find out how it ended up up there by listening to "Jim's" audio diary; it was labeled, "**Locked Upstairs**" after all. Right when I was about to press the "play" button, I heard several low groaning noises coming from behind me. I drew the diamondback and turned around and saw two of the infected coming towards me.

I fired a bullet at one of them, killing the infected woman. Her body hit the ground with an audible thud. The second one lunged at me, colliding with me. The infected man laid on top of me, trying his best to bite me around the neck, face, anywhere really. I managed to hold his head back by holding his neck and keeping his disgusting teeth (and his bad breath, might I add) away from me. When he collided with me, the impact caused me to lose my grip on my gun and the audio diary. The gun was now laying inches away next to my free hand, the hand that did not hold the infected's neck.

I tried my best to reach the gun without trying to get bitten by the infected man. My free hand was slowly, but surely, inching towards the gun. The infected man was still struggling to land a bite on me. I kept my strong grip on his neck. It was during this time that I looked into the man's eyes. In the eyes, there was nothing there; it was completely void of all human emotions, except for anger. Anger was the only emotion that was present in the eyes. There wasn't anything remotely human about the eyes. I will never forget those eyes and what I saw in them (or what I didn't see in them?).

After a few more seconds of keeping his teeth away and reaching for my diamondback, my hand finally touched the grips of the revolver. I grabbed it and pressed the barrel of the gun into the head of the infected and pushed the trigger. The gun goes off. The man instantly went limp.

I pushed the body off of myself and started to look around for "Jim's" audio recording. After a while, I found the sucker had slid under a table. I retrieved it and pressed the "play" button. Here is what the recording said:

"_Day five, The time is...around 3 o' clock. I was minding my own business when I heard the sound of glass breaking near the door to the backyard. When I went to check it out, I found out it was one of those hoodie...things. I ran upstairs and managed to trap "it" in the bathroom. However, I saw one flaw with trapping "it" in there. _

_My ammo! I keep all my ammo in the bathroom...You know, in foresight, that wasn't a very smart thing to do. Hopefully, the three mags I have on me will be enough to keep me alive for a while...or at least until Ana arrives. And also, I don't know why, but on one occasion, I heard mumbling coming from the bathroom. I must have been hearing things though. I must be losing my sanity a lot quicker than I thought! Ana better hurry or else...I don't know what I'll do!"_

Oh great, the very thing I need is stuck in a room with a Jumper. I'm probably going to hate myself for what I'm about to do.

**Several Minutes Later...**

I found myself in front of the bathroom where the Jumper was. My ear was pressed against the door. I listened for any sounds that the Jumper would make.

…and listened

...What the hell? There wasn't a single sound coming out of the bathroom. The only thing missing from the silent room was a cricket chipping and some tumble weed rolling by. Seriously, it's more quiet than a public library.

I took the door knob and twisted it. I entered the bathroom with my diamondback raised. I looked around. There was a bath tub, a toilet, a sink, a medicine cabinet that doubles as a mirror (it was opened a little), cardboard boxes scattered every which way (They're probably filled with ammo), a pile of ammunition boxes and bullets, and a small, black figure in the corner. There was also rose petals scattered everywhere. The scent of roses filled the air to the point of intoxication (I had to hold my nose). The small, black figure caught my attention.

I tip-toed towards it and looked at it. It started to make a slight movement. It turned over and I saw it's face. It was the Jumper. However, its eyes were closed and it wasn't jumping to rip me to shreds. Dirty blonde hair bangs were partially covering its (hers?) face. Was it sleeping? I didn't know Jumpers slept. My gun was pointed at it. I know I only had one more bullet left in it, but hopefully it will be enough to at least cripple it.

I slowly and quietly moved to the pile of ammo. (My gun still pointed at the Jumper; I didn't want to take any chances.) I started to look though the pile, soon I found the type of bullets my gun will work with. I also found some buckshots for my shotgun. I started to take some of the bullets and started to dump them into my own ammo pouches that I had on my belt. Before long, both of my pouches was filled with bullets. Then, I started to reload my revolver.

Right when I pressed down on the ejection rod, I remembered something.

"_He gets up and empties his gun, dropping the now useless empty bullets on the ground. Damn, those bullets can be loud when they hit the ground."_

Uh oh...

The sound of bullet cartridges hitting the tile ground fills the air. The jumper in the corner started to twitch and move. I held my breath. The jumper growled and turned over. Then, it stops moving again.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I took some more bullets and loaded them into the gun. After I was done placing the bullets into the cylinder, I quietly went back to the exit. Right when I was going to open the door, Alexis' voice emits from my radio...at a very high volume.

She said, "Ryan, are ya done yet?"

I quickly replied, "Alexis! You chose a **bad** time to contact me!"

Then, I hear the jumper growling. I turned and saw the jumper up and on all fours. It was obviously looking at me with its eyes. It jumped towards me. I managed to fire one bullet at it before it pinned me down. The jumper clawed at my chest and managed to cut me on my face. Its claws felt like knives. I felt the pain. Then suddenly, it stopped. The clawing stopped.

I took up my gun and pressed the barrel into the head of the Jumper. I don't know why, but I couldn't press down on the trigger though. I stared into the Jumper's eyes and it stared into mine. The eyes were completely different than that of the infected man I had fought off earlier. There were actually something human about them.

We maintained eye contact for several tense seconds. The tension was so thick, you could probably cut though it like a hot knife cutting though butter. Then as suddenly as it had happened, The jumper jumped off of me. I was actually alive, but I had several injuries.

I got up on my feet and looked at myself with the mirror. The shirt I was wearing was tore to shreds. I had a cut running vertically down over my eye. I was bleeding there and on my chest. I'm glad I still had my first-aid kit from Daniel's apartment. In fact, I'm surprised I haven't used it yet.

I guess I might as well use it on my injuries now...going to take some time though.

**Author's Note: Sorry that this chapter took longer than usual. I had been very busy with other stuff.**


	11. Ch 11 Drying Ends

Ryan's POV

After I managed to bandage my chest and stopped the bleeding, I decided to pack up and leave the house; there wasn't anything left to do but listen to Dallas' audio diary. I went back downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs, I noticed there were several changes to the scenery.

There were some more rose petals scattered around. The petals seem to make somewhat of a loose trail that led to the front door. As I made my way to the front door, I picked up Dallas' audio diary and listened to it. Here is what it recorded:

"_This place is empty. Dallas doesn't like empty houses that he can't loot. There seems to have been a bit of a rumble around here not to long ago. The green flu versus one survivor...Hmph, Dallas could have taken them all on. And Dallas just realized something, It's been a while and Dallas hasn't seen any other survivors at all. He's been alone for a while...Dallas did manage to find some ammo for his shotgun though. Hopefully, it will last just long enough for Dallas to find someone who ain't dead or infected."_

Halfway through the recording, I made it to the front door where the rose petal trail ended. I noticed, laying on the floor in front of the front door, an audio diary was there. Once, Dallas' recording was finished, I placed it in my back satchel and examined the new diary. Strange, I know that that wasn't there when I entered the house. Did that jumper dropped it? It wasn't labeled either. I guess I might as well listen to it. I pressed the "play" button. The speaker, for some reason, sounded very familiar to me. Her voice sounded raspy, rough, and dried like as if the speaker hasn't drank any water for a long time. I wonder if that is one of the "perks" of being a jumper.

"_I've been freed! The guy that freed me...He had a chance to kill me, but he didn't take it; I wonder why. I also had a chance to kill him too, but I couldn't do it. There is something familiar about him that stopped me from killing him though..."_

This **must** have been left behind by the jumper I just freed. Wait, that must mean she can talk. Interesting...So far, I have yet to encounter any of the infected that have to ability to talk, but this Jumper is...different. Okay, let's see. The look in her eyes were different and she talks...what else can she do? But I digress, I walked out of the house and continued towards the saferoom where Alexis is held up.

**One hour later...**

I was walking down a street and there were lots of wanderers around. One of them was in my way. I had to kill him. I took my shotgun and killed him with one bullet. I replaced the bullet I just fired and was about to walk off when I noticed that there was something familiar about the wanderer I just killed. I went to his body and examined him.

On his body was a wallet, a few empty gun magazines, a baseball bat, and an audio diary. The audio diary was labeled...! It had my friend's name on it...It was labeled, _"Austin: Eleanor...I'm Sorry." _I set the recorder down and opened his wallet. Austin always kept his wallet on him no matter where he was going, if this really was Austin, then some form of ID should be in his wallet. In the wallet was what I feared; inside the wallet was Austin's driver license. This wanderer I just killed **must** have been Austin...I just killed my friend who was infected.

Austin...He wasn't as close as Daniel was to me, but we were still good friends. Daniel introduced him to me when we went to "Little Joe's" for lunch one day. I remember that day like it were yesterday...

_**Several Months Earlier...**_

_Austin's POV_

_I walked into the diner that Daniel has been trying to get me to eat at for the past several weeks. He is with me right now. He told me we were meeting one of his friends here. It was around 11 o' clock, so we're not exactly late for lunch time, which is why I'm glad we're here. I had to skip breakfast to help another friend of mine, Eleanor. She had some family issues to deal with that may or may not have been caused by her "eye condition."_

_The diner was starting to get busy. The chatter of conversation and the sounds of sliver-ware filled the air. There was a line that was gathering at the cashier register where, I assumed, you would order your food. Above the cashier register was the menu. Pictures, prices, and words flooded the menu._

"_Look, there he is; that's Ryan. I've told you about him." Daniel said. _

_He was pointing at a guy that had a lean body that was waiting in line. He was slightly above my height. Daniel went to him. They talked for a few seconds, then Daniel, shortly, gestured towards me to join them._

_Daniel introduced us to each other that day. All three of us had lunch together. We even had some interesting conversations..._

**Present Day (Flashback-wise)**

Ryan's POV

I picked up Austin's recording and pressed the "play" button. It has been about two weeks since I last seen or heard him. I should keep this diary after I'm done listening. Here is what it said:

"_Ellie...I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you. I couldn't protect you from that crazy guy. We got separated because of him. I don't even know if you're alive or not. I lost sight of you after that guy blew up the gas station. Eleanor...if you are **somehow** still alive and manage to get this, go to Athens Middle School; I've heard that the army is using that as a way to get people like us out of this hell-hole._

_I'll see you there, Ellie. I know we've been together for about a year now, but I love you, Eleanor."_

The recording ended at that...

**Present Day (End of Flashbacks)**

Ryan's POV

The time is around the afternoon. The saferoom that me and my group have secured was starting to run low on food supplies. Dallas had found that about a quarter of the food supplies have expired, so that didn't help. Alexis and I have agree that we should leave the saferoom after the food supply has run dry. We, however, still have plenty of ammo and water in the saferoom, it was just the food supply that was running low.

To help past the time, I helped Eleanor practice shooting her P228. We would set up empty water bottles and she would stand at the other side of the room and she would start trying to shoot them. Dallas would sometimes join her with solid slugs loaded into his shotgun. He would take this time to brag. He would say something, _"Look at that! Dallas can shoot those bottles with his eyes closed!" _or _"Could you set up smaller targets for Dallas? These bottles are too big for him." _I don't like to admit it, but he **is **a good shot. Sometimes, he would shoot at the infected though the saferoom exit door because he wanted moving targets.

Eleanor's shooting is improving though. Before, she couldn't shoot the broad side of a barn, but now she could shoot all the bottles I would set up for her with high accuracy. I would give her tips on how to improve her accuracy. Alexis and I didn't have to practice shooting because we didn't need it. Alexis had military training on shooting and I had shooting practice back when Daniel and his dad would sometimes take me with them to hunt.

On the third day, Alexis approached me when I was keeping watch.

"Ryan, sometimes, Ah can't shake the feelin' that we're being watched." She said.

I replied, "Really? Well, I guess we should keep an eye out then."

"Ah have already told Dallas and Eleanor."

"All right, Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem, Ryan."

On the evening of the fourth day, We were all minding our own business (I was clearing my diamondback) when the low growl of a giant could clearly be heard in the air...


	12. Ch 12 The Octopus

Ryan's POV

The day has finally came. It is now time to leave the comfort of the saferoom. We have packed everything that we can carry. I had my revolvers and my shotgun, Eleanor had her pistol along with a hunting rifle (it was on the table that had the ammo pile), Dallas had his modified shotgun and his pistol, and Alexis had her assault rifle with her python. Before we left the saferoom, Dallas left behind an audio diary that told of our five day stay in here.

I'm going to miss this saferoom, it had it all. It had two beds (we had to share), three separate rooms, an ammo pile, a working toilet, lots of water, a working oven, and a frequency radio. The radio wouldn't pick up anything despite being in working order. Too bad, we had to leave since there is no more food. If I could, I would have stayed longer. I bet this was a nice house before everything went to hell.

We all left the saferoom. Upon exiting the saferoom, we found ourselves in the backyard of the saferoom. In front of the backyard was a large grass field. Right when we left the saferoom, we all heard the echoing, maniacal laughter of a Leaper.

I said, "There's a leaper out there."

"Dallas is going to kick his ass!"

"Check yer surroundings." Alexis said.

We all went forward into the large grass field. The grass in the field was taller than regular grass. The grass went as high as my knees. There was several strays around the field; both me and Eleanor were killing them. The laughter is heard again, but it sounded closer this time. Where the hell is this leaper? I turned around and saw that only Eleanor was behind me. Dallas and Alexis was a little behind us.

"Where is this leap-?" I asked.

A Sobber's scream fills the air, interrupting me. The scream was followed by two shots from what I recognized to be Alexis' python. Both me and Eleanor turned around. Alexis stood there with her python pointed at the ground. Dallas was next to her.

Alexis yelled towards me and Eleanor, "Ryan, Eleanor, come here. Ya gotta come see this."

We went towards them. When we got to them, they were looking at an infected's corpse. It looked completely new. The corpse's skin matched that of the grass in terms of texture and color. The skin slowly went to the regular infected skin texture. The corpse looked like a woman about three, maybe four, years older than me. She was wearing a dirty summer dress and there was a bow in her messy hair. She also had brown hair.

"What is this infected?" Eleanor asked.

"Ah don't know...It's new. It screamed when ah accidentally stepped on it." Alexis answered.

"It was camouflaged. It was blending in with the grass." I said.

"Dallas could camouflage if he wanted to." Dallas said. Dallas' bragging is starting to get annoying...

"What should we call it?" I asked.

"...How about 'Octopus?'" Alexis suggested.

"Octopus'...hmm, Dallas likes that." Dallas said.

"I do, too. How about you, Eleanor?" I said, looking towards her.

"Um...why...why "Octopus?"...that is...if you don't mind me asking." She asked.

"Because an octopus can blend in with their surroundings."

"Then...I guess that would work." Eleanor said.

"We can't stay here. We have to keep moving." I said.

"Yer right. Let's go." Alexis said.

We continued though the grass field, killing any strays and wanderers that came towards us. I also noticed that the laughter of the leaper was gone; was it coming from the Octopus? In the distance, I saw the school. It seems the school was past a large, deluxe theater. I forgot what the name of it though. I think it was called "Bang Bang Cinema."

**BANG! BANG!**

Those were gunshots! I looked towards everyone and they looked back at me. We nodded at each other and ran towards the source of the gunshots.

"You think those were survivors?" I asked.

"Most likely, who else would it be?" Alexis replied.

Soon, we exit the grass field and came across a somewhat short bridge. There were several abandoned cars around the bridge. In the middle of it all was a red mini-van that was being swarming by the infected. I saw muzzle flashes coming from the driver side of the car. I took out my shotgun and started firing into the swarm. Several of the infected went down. I heard gunshots coming from my companions too.

After a few seconds of shooting, the swarm that was attacking the car was dead. The door to the driver side opened up revealing a survivor that had brunette hair. The survivor wore a blue Yankees skater hat, a black beater with a bandolier of bullet cartridges, camo-cargo pants, and gray Nike shoes. He was also wearing sunglasses, so I couldn't see his eyes. In his hands was a pistol that I recognized as the Desert Eagle. On his hips were two gun holsters, I saw another D. Eagle in his left holster. Does he dual wield them?

"Hey, thanks for your help." The survivor said.

"No problem. Glad we could help." I said.

I took the next few seconds to introduce everyone in the group.

"...and I'm Ryan." I said.

"I'm Jay. Glad to meet everyone, especially you, Eleanor." Jay said.

"...eep." Eleanor said. It looked like she was trying to physically shrink in size so that Jay wouldn't see her.

"So, what happened to ya, Jay? How did ya get swarmed like that?" Alexis asked.

"Is that a southern accent I hear?" Jay asked.

"Jay, is now really the best time to be flirting?" I asked.

"Maybe." He replied.

He eventually told us that his car suddenly started to stall. It wouldn't move at all. We couldn't figure out the problem. We looked under the hood, we looked at the tries, the engine, etc. We just couldn't find out what was wrong. That is until...

"Jay, Dallas found out the problem! You're out of gas!" Dallas said. Are you serious? He's just out of gas? Wow. That is the one thing that we all didn't check.

"...Oh. That is the one thing I didn't check." Jay said.

"I guess we could go and scavenge some gas. There are plenty of-" I started.

Suddenly, the shriek of a Jumper fills the air, interrupting me.


	13. Ch 13 Encounters

Ryan's POV

Everyone went to go look for gas for Jay's car. I had to stay and watch over the car. I was the odd man out. As I stood there keeping watch, I thought back to when I arrived at the saferoom where I first met up with Alexis. She noticed the scar that ran down my right eye. It was a permanent scar from when I first encountered that Jumper. It could have been worst though, I could have lost that eye completely and been permanently blinded on that eye.

It was originally my idea to have the group split up to find my the gas. However, it wasn't my idea to be the odd man out. I actually wanted Jay to be the odd man out since it was **his** car. We took a vote. And let's just say that sometimes, I hate democracy.

Earlier when the Jumper's shriek pierced the air, that was all it was. A shriek filling the air, but I was staying vigilant. The source of that shriek could still be nearby. I had both of my revolvers in my hands in case whatever caused that shriek decided to attack me. The sound of distant gunshots can be heard; they were most likely coming from my friends.

It was around mid-day now. Where was everyone? It was probably roughly around three o' clock when they left. Is gas really that scarce now? I was looking around, scanning the area, when I saw something glimmering in the sunlight. I walked over to it. Under an abandoned car, I spotted an audio diary. I grabbed it and examined it. The diary was labeled, "Hawkeye: "Barely Made It." There were dots of dried blood on it. What the hell kind of name is "Hawkeye?" Anyways, I pressed the "Play" and listened. The speaker was a male.

"_I can't believe I made it out of there alive. I lost sight of Sgt. Mayer half-way out though. I hope he's still alive. Anyways, I barely managed to make it out with my life. One of..."them" was about to take a bite out of me, but I managed to shoot his brains out before his teeth touched me. I managed to get some distance between me and the fort. Now, it's time for the journey to the school I've heard so much about. I have got to use my ammo sparingly though, I don't have much of it. It's going to be a tough road...Might as well start now."_

Wait, did this "Hawkeye" mention a Sgt. Mayer? That was Brooks' sergeant. I wonder if Brooks knows this "Hawkeye." I took out the radio attached to my belt and tuned it to Brooks' channel and spoke into it.

"Brooks? Do you know a "Hawkeye?"

Her voice replied, "Yeah, He was a private in my unit. How do ya know about Hawkeye?"

"I found an audio diary that has his name on it."

"Really? Can ah listen ta it later?"

"Sure. Where are you right now?"

"Me and Eleanor are still in town. We haven't found any...Eleanor! Look out!"

Then, I heard the roar of a Giant which was followed by gunfire. Just before her radio turned off, I heard a scream on Alexis' end. Oh my gosh...I hope they'll be fine.

I should find them, They went into town. Between the bridge and the town was a small forest. Hopefully, they didn't go too far into town. I went into the direction that I saw them go when they first left to find some gas. I had all three of my guns with me. I saw several strays and wonderers. I fired several shots at them, killing several of them.

After I killed them, I reloaded my revolvers. Then, the shriek of a jumper fills the air. Then, that was when I saw some rose petals in the middle of the road. Rose petals...that jumper must be around. I had my diamondback at the ready, in case I had to put a bullet through the jumper's brains.

Before I realized what happened, I got pushed down and was pinned to the ground. I couldn't move. I looked up and saw the jumper, face-to-face. It stared into my eyes and I stared into it's eyes. The force of the jumper's impact caused me to drop my two revolvers. They were both just **barely** out of my arm's reach.

I tried my best to get out of the jumper's hold, but I couldn't get free. Then, I heard a feminine voice. The same rough and dry voice that was recorded in that unlabeled audio diary I had found back at the house where I freed the jumper. This is most likely the same Jumper.

"Stop." The voice said.

The voice made me pause and look at the Jumper right in her eyes.

"...What?" I said.

"I said stop."

"You're...You're the same one that left that audio recording back at the house."

"Yes, now please, I just want answers."

"Answers?"

"Yes, I'm the same person that you have freed. I just want to know...Why didn't you kill me back there?"

"...I...I actually don't know. There was something different about you. Different from the other infected people."

She stares me down with her eyes. Then, I felt her grip on me loosen. She got off of me. I got up into a sitting position. She was on all fours, looking at me with her human-like eyes. There was rose petals littering the ground around me. I looked at her, I don't know why, but there was something familiar about her.

"You know...there's something familiar about you...like I've known you before." I asked her.

"I'm getting that same feeling too."

Then, she turns away and jumps off, disappearing into the woods.

"Wait!" I said after her, but she was gone.

I retrieved my revolvers and placed them back in their holsters. Then, my radio started to vibrant. Soon, Alexis' voice came on.

"Ryan? Ya there?"

"Alexis? What happened? Are you and Eleanor okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine. Just had a run-in with a Giant."

"Before we got cut off, I heard a scream."

"A scream?...Oh! That was Eleanor. She jus' got scared at the sight o' a Giant. But, we're both fine now. No need ta worry."

"Okay good. You have no idea how worried I was."

"I figured as much."

I guess I don't have to worry now...I should head back to the car since I know that Alexis and Eleanor are okay.


	14. Ch 14 Taunting Hallucinations

**Author's Note: I forgot to mention this in the last chapter, but Jay is another cameo character like Chris "Yami." His fanfiction username is "cereal146." He said it was fine to reveal it.**

**Now, onto the chapter!**

Ryan's POV

The sun had started to begin its slow descend. The twilight was here. Soon, the land and the nearby town will be covered in a sheet of darkness with moonlight being the only source of illumination. Unseen crickets can be heard chirping in the distance as well as echoing gunshots.

I haven't been this alone for this long since my days with Daniel. I remembered my first infected kill. It was in the morning when me and Daniel went on a supply run. I remember it like as if it were-.

"_Wow, Ryan, you look worst than the time I got mauled by that bear." _A voice said, interrupting my thoughts.

I raised my diamondback and my flashlight at the direction where the voice came from. Out of the darkness came the last person I would expect...Daniel.

I said, "Daniel? What the-?"

Daniel gave a short chuckle and said, _"Weren't expecting me?"_

I replied, "Well, no...You're dead. For all I know, you could be a hallucination."

"_Maybe I am, maybe I'm not."_

A few moments passed before we both said anything. I had lowered my gun at that point; my flashlight was still pointed at him. I noticed that he was wearing the same thing he wore when he died. Jeans that were purposely ripped, a baseball cap, a plain white t-shirt, and white dress shoes. His curly hair was partially covering his right eye. He circled around me like a vulture circling around in the desert. Then, I suddenly realized that my throat felt a little...dry for some reason.

"_Now tell me, why are you guys helping Jay?" _He asked.

I replied, "He's a fellow survivor. We have an obligation to help other survivors."

"_But how do you know he's not cheating off of you guys?"_

"Cheating off of us?"

"_Yes, he could just be mooching off of you guys. I could imagine it now...take the gas, backstab you at the last second, then leave with all the guns and you would get left for dead. Get left to be eaten by all those fuckers out there. All because you wanted to help someone. Tsk tsk tsk..."_

"Jay wouldn't do that! He's trustworthy, he's nice."

"_Oh ho ho, he may seem like that. But you don't know what he's capable of."_

"Daniel...why are you acting like this? T-this isn't like you."

"_I'm just trying to protect you."_

There was another short pause before he spoke again.

After the brief intermission, he said, _"Wait...Don't tell me. You've gone soft, haven't you?"_

"What?"

"_I remember back in the day when you were tuff."_

"I haven't gotten soft."

"_Tell me...what happened?"_

"I'm still the same person." I felt my voice getting higher.

"_I bet if I poked you, you would feel like a doormat."_

"I said I'm not-!"

Suddenly, a different voice interrupted me. This time, it wasn't Daniel.

"Ryan? You okay? We heard you yelling." The familiar voice said.

I turned away from Daniel and looked in the direction from which the voice came from and shined my flashlight there. I looked in time to see Dallas and Jay coming out of the forest. They were both wearing something that looked like green, plastic backpacks.

"Who were you talking to?" Jay said.

"I was talking to-" I started.

I gestured and looked at where Daniel was standing...only to find him gone.

"...Nobody apparently."

What the hell? Where did Daniel go? Maybe he was just a hallucination. I must be going insane.

"You're worrying Dallas, buddy. Are you sure you're okay?" Dallas asked.

I shook my head and said, "Yeah, I'll be fine..." I decided to change the subject.

"So, did you guys find gas?" I asked.

"Yep. Plenty of it. We found it in a gas station about two miles into town." Jay said.

Both Jay and Dallas turned around and showed me what they wore on their backs. They were big, green gas canisters that were strapped to their backs. That was what I saw when I saw them coming out of the forest. Dallas had his shotgun in his hand while Jay had two desert eagles in his hands.

"That should be more than enough gas for you, Jay." I said.

"Yeah, Thanks a lot for your guy's help. I appreciate it." He replied.

"This gas better be worth it. He wasted about half his ammo getting this gas." Dallas said.

While Dallas and Jay started filling up the gas tank in the car, I told Alexis that she and Eleanor could come back now. Alexis still has her radio on her. She said that she and Eleanor are on their way back now. They had found some ammo and water while they were in town.

I heard Dallas and Jay chatting idly as they were filling up the gas tank. While they were doing that, I was keeping watch. I think their conversation went a little like:

"Hey Dallas, How close are you to that Alexis?"

"Dallas is just friends with her."

"You sure? You two seem to "hit it off" pretty well."

"Dallas hardly knows Alexis...Although, Dallas must admit she is pretty hot. Dallas likes her accent."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I like that southern accent too. She quite a looker."

"Yeah, she is...wait, Southern? No no no no, it's an aussie accent."

"Australian? What? That's not an Australian accent. It's southern, you idiot. How can you confuse an Australian accent with a southern accent?"

"Are you calling Dallas stupid? Because Dallas will-."

I didn't catch the rest of their conversation because I suddenly started to feel a tad bit light headed. I started to feel some dizziness too. I felt a huge thirst. My vision started to blur. Everything went black before I hit the ground.

Before everything faded to black, I think I heard a voice say "Hey, Ryan? You okay, buddy?"


	15. Ch 15 Clearing Assault

Ryan's POV

I slowly opened my eyes as I started to regain consciousness. Everything was a blur. The floor I was laying down on felt as soft as a cloud. It has been a while since I have laid down on something this soft. Where the hell am I? Everything soon came into focus.

I hear a familiar southern voice say, "It's 'bout time ya woke up."

I said, "Oh god...my head is killing me." I look up to see Alexis.

"Rest yer head, Ryan." Alexis said.

"What happened?"

"Nothin' much. Ya just had some dehydration is all. Yer goin' to be just dandy in no time."

I take a moment to look around. It seems like we were in a forest clearing. We must be in that small forest that was around the bridge. Surrounding the clearing were several trees. In front of where I laid was a lit fire pit, the flames providing some light. Around the clearing were several sleeping bags and I notice I'm laying on one of them. How long was I out? I felt several wet cloths around my body; on my wrists, neck, collarbone, and inner thighs. I'm guessing they're there to treat my dehydration. I vaguely remember reading in an online article that that is one way to treat dehydration.

"What happened while I was out? How **long** have I been out?" I asked the former corporal.

She replied, "Ya were out fer 'bout ten hours."

"Ten hours? Hot damn, what did I miss?"

"Ya didn't miss much. Jay left though. He left 'bout half an hour on his car after me and Eleanor came back."

"He did? Did he say anything before he left?"

"Yeah; He wished us luck and told meh that he had some "unfinished business" that he had ta attend ta."

"Oh...okay. Anyways, where are we? Are we in the small forest that was in front of the bridge?"

"Eeeyep, Ah had ta drag ya here since ya were unconscious. We set up camp here since it was gettin' dark. Here, drink some water." she said as she handed me a water bottle, which I accepted.

After drinking about half the bottle, I said, "Where's Dallas and Eleanor? I don't see them around."

"Oh, believe me. They're around." Alexis replied.

"Really? Where exactly-?"

That was when a male scream fills the air, interrupting me mid-sentence.

"That sounded like Dallas!" I said.

"Stay here! Ah'll go check it out."

"Can't I-?"

"No, yer weak right now." As much as I hate to admit it, she is right. I felt a little light-headed and my legs still felt sore.

Alexis got up (her assault rifle in hand) and ran towards the general direction of where the scream had came from, disappearing out of my view and out of the forest clearing. I looked around the clearing and just now noticed that my back satchel, my revolvers, and shotgun were right there next to me. I pushed the cylinder out of the diamondback and saw that it still had some bullet cartridges in it. I checked inside the back satchel and saw that some of the food inside of it was gone. I'm guessing one of my friends helped themselves to some of the various snacks in it.

After a while, the sound of groaning, coughing, and a shriek fills the air. I quickly grabbed my shotgun and pumped it, keeping it at the ready. I also turned on the flashlight that was attached to it. Several gunshots can be heard in the distance. Then, a Jumper leaps out of the surrounding forest and into the clearing I was in. The jumper pounces at me, but landed short, landing right in front of me.

I smacked him in the face with the butt of my shotgun, pushing him back. After he was pushed away, I followed that push with a pull of my trigger. The buck coming from my shotgun killed him. I pumped the gun (ejecting the empty buck) and then, I loaded another shell into it from my ammo pouch that was still on my belt. After loading, I pointed the gun at the surrounding forest, keeping it at the ready. Several strays appeared in the clearing, out of the forest.

I fired at them until my shotgun went "_click." _I dropped my shotgun next to me and switched to my dual revolvers, picking them off the floor. I started firing off shots with them. But, for some reason, it seems like for every infected that I killed, two more would appear out of the forest to take the downed infected's place. There were way too many of them. I'm going to be overwhelmed soon!

One of the infected, a man, managed to make his way to me as I was reloading my pistols. He lunges at me causing me to drop my revolvers. I started to hold back his face with my hand. He was trying his best to bite me...that is until a hole appears on his forehead, blood started to drip from it.

"Don't worry, Ryan. We got ya!" Alexis yelled.

Then, I hear Dallas. He yelled, "Someone help me! I'm bleeding all over the place!"

...wait, did Dallas just talk in first-person?

Alexis walks into the clearing with her rifle a-blazed. Following close behind her was Eleanor dragging Dallas. Even from my view, I could tell that his right leg was bleeding...profusely. Eleanor had her P226 in her hand and she was firing it at the infected. Even though Dallas was probably feeling agonizing pain, he still had his double-barreled shotgun in hand, which he was shooting the infected with. I picked my revolvers back up and started to finish off the infected with them.

Soon, the clearing was cleared of the infected. Eleanor placed Dallas on one of the sleeping bags and set her pistol down on the ground. Dallas' leg started to bleed on the sleeping bag he was laid down on.

"Someone stop me from bleeding!" Dallas said.

"Don't worry. I know how to fix ya right up. Ya'll be better in no time." Alexis said.

Alexis came over to him and pulled a cloth out of her CRV and started to wipe his leg wounds with it, cleansing the wounds. She dropped the cloth on the ground and pulled out what I recognized to be a roll of gauze out of her CRV. Then, she started to wrap his leg in it. That CRV can be very helpful. Me and Eleanor were just watching them. I finished the water bottle that Alexis gave me earlier as I watched.

"Just stay off that leg and it should heal right up." Alexis said.

"Good, Dallas feels better already." Dallas said.

It seems like Dallas stops talking in third-person whenever he is in shock and continues talking in third person when he is over whatever caused the shock...how interesting. I'm also guessing we won't be going anywhere until Dallas can at least start walking on his own again.

Then, I looked over to the Jumper I had killed (his body was still in the clearing) and noticed something about him. This Jumper was "Yami" from back when Daniel was still alive. I knew it was Yami because his clothes were different from an average Jumper and that they reminded me of Yami. I recognize the jeans and the tank top...


	16. Ch 16 Slow Days

Ryan's POV

The next few days went by slowly...very slowly. I mean, they dragged on and on. We were waiting for Dallas' leg to heal up. Nothing much had happened during the course of the next few days. There were some things that had happened that are worth noting.

On the first day, I just helped Eleanor practice on her shooting. Her accuracy is a force to be reckoned with, but it was her speed that needed help. So, I taught her speed shooting and accuracy combined with this "trick shot" that I saw on TV once. It consisted of the shooter holding whatever they were going to shoot (like an apple, water bottle, a can, anything really) and throwing it up into the air and trying to shoot it out of the sky before it hit the ground. I tried this "trick shot" before the start of infection and found that I could do it after about one or two tries. Eleanor, on the other hand, couldn't shoot whatever she threw into the air if her life depended on it. She would keep trying and trying, but she couldn't do it.

Dallas would watch Eleanor and say something like, "Dallas could do that." He tried giving her tips like "Shoot where the apple is going to be," or "Try aiming a little lower." But despite Dallas' tips, she couldn't do it. She eventually got it around dinner time. You should have seen the look on her face. She was practically beaming like the sun.

While Eleanor was still trying to figure out the trick shot, I gave Alexis Hawkeye's audio diary that I had found back at the bridge. She told me that she hopes that Hawkeye was still alive. She wanted at least one person from her unit to still be alive. Before I went to go check on Eleanor, Alexis stopped me and did the last thing I would expect from her. She kissed me!

"...Alexis?" I said, surprised and shocked.

"Just consider that as a thank you." she responded.

Then, she just smirked and walked towards our encampment. (We had left the camp to check the perimeter of the clearing to make sure there wasn't any of the infected nearby, there **were** a few wanderers that were easily taken care of.)

On the second day, I was definitely over my dehydration. I was wondering if that kiss from Alexis was just another hallucination that was caused by my dehydration, it felt real though. Eleanor and Alexis went to go on a supply run (for ammo, food, water, etc.), leaving me alone with Dallas. It wasn't as bad as you might think. At first, I thought it would just consist of me listening to him brag about himself or listening to him talk in third-person all day, but it was actually the opposite. I was polishing my guns at the time with a handkerchief that Daniel had in his backpack.

"Ryan, Dallas needs to speak with you." He started.

"What is it, Dallas?" I replied.

He hesitates. Why is he hesitating? I stopped polishing my guns.

"Listen, I just wanted to tell you that you're awesome!" Dallas said.

"Well, you're...wait, what?" I replied.

"Yeah, I mean you're always calm and collected. And you're pretty bad-ass with that...what did you call it?"

"My diamondback?"

"Yeah...that. And let me tell you, when you fainted back at the bridge, I didn't know you were suffering from dehydration. I thought you were knocked unconscious by someone or something."

"Really?"

"Yeah...Listen man, if you need anything from me, just ask."

"Alright, thanks, Dallas. That means a lot to me."

Dallas picks up his shotgun off of the ground and points it at me.

"Dallas, what are you doing?" I said.

"I'm showing you how much I care about you." Dallas replied.

"Pointing your gun at me isn't showing me that you care-!"

He fires his gun, interrupting me mid-sentence. I cringed when I heard his shotgun go off, but I didn't feel any bullets. I heard a scream that was coming from behind me. I turned around and saw an infected woman that had the skin that matched the texture of a tree. It was an octopus infected. He just saved me!

Then, Dallas says, "Hah, isn't Dallas **just** so generous and protective? He can be nice and caring whenever he wants!"

...At least, we have the old Dallas back. It seems he stops talking in third-person when he is speaking what's on his mind. Several hours later, Eleanor and Alexis came back with lots of supplies. Everybody had enough foods to feed them for at least a week and the same can be said for ammo.

On the third day, things, at first, seemed pretty normal. Dallas was starting to walk again (with a slight limp, but still walking). Eleanor was practicing the trick shot. Alexis was telling me about Hawkeye.

"Now, the reason we called him "Hawkeye" was because of his excellent eye sight and his skills with a sniper rifle. His real name is Alan Forrest." Alexis explained.

"Oh, do tell more." I responded.

"Sgt. Mayer would call him "The Sniping Genius." He is very patient and he is a master at camouflaging like the "Octopus." He once shot a bulls-eye at a target that is a mile away!"

"A mile away? That is very impressive."

"Yeah, ah heard he was about ta be promoted to corporal before-."

That was when a rustling of a nearby bush caused her to pause.

I said, "Who's there? We'll not going to hurt you."

"If ya ain't goin' ta come out, we're going ta make ya come out." Alexis said.

A man comes out of the bushes. I couldn't see his face because he wore a hoodie that covered his whole face in a shadow. He was pretty short, probably around 5'6''. How can a guy be that short?

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm the warden of the nearby lake, Lake Red Shore. Cleaning it, watching it, all that kind of stuff." the man said.

"Stanley?" Dallas said.

The warden (Stanley?) looks over at Dallas and smiles. He pulls down his hoodie, revealing his face. He wore glasses and had dirty blonde hair that was combed back. He looked about a few years younger than Dallas. Behind those glasses were green eyes.

"Dallas? it's so good to see you again (considering the circumstances)!" the warden said.

The warden goes over to Dallas and they hugged each other.

"What happened to your leg, Dallas?" the lake watcher asked with a hint of concern.

"It got scratched up by one of those bastards. Dallas thinks it's nothing bad though." Dallas replied.

As it turns out, Dallas and the lake warden (His real name being Stanley Pendanski) were friends. They met when Stanley came into Dallas' dad's gun-shop one day.


	17. Ch 17 Lake Red Shores

**Author's Note: Read this far? Then, here is a double-length chapter :D**

**I also went back and fixed a few errors in the early chapters. It's nothing worth rereading through. Just some grammar and punctuation errors.**

**Anyways, onto the chapter.**

Shortly after our group met up with Stanley, Dallas was able to fully walk again. So, we went to Stanley's lake. We packed up our stuff and we started the short trip to the lake. According to the warden, it was about half a mile away. The good warden had said that it was safe. About fifteen minutes into walking towards his lake, we all heard two types of low growling that sounded differently from each other.

"Did you guys all hear that? Ready your weapons. Stanley, do you have any weapons?" I asked.

Stanley replied, "All I have is this pistol. I have a shotgun back at my shack though."

He takes out a pistol out of his pocket. It was the same pistol that Eleanor and Dallas has.

"Is it the same shotgun that you bought at Dallas' shop?" Dallas asked.

"Yeah, of course. I take very good care of it." Stanley stated. He must have known that the gun shop now belongs to Dallas since he probably inherited his dad's gun shop.

"Good, Dallas is glad to hear that. Anyways, that is the same pistol that Dallas has." Dallas said as he took out his own. Stanley just nods at Dallas' statement and grins.

I had drawn both of my revolvers and had them at the ready. So far, all we've killed were the strays and the wanderers. That giant should be around here somewhere. I wonder where they-

That is when Alexis' radio starts vibrating, interrupting my thoughts. Who could be calling her? How did they get Alexis' channel? Anyways, all I heard was Alexis' side of the conversation. Everyone else (including me) covered her as she was talking.

"Hello? Who is dis?"

"..."

"Forrest? Ah can't believe it is you! Where are ya?"

Forrest? Oh wait...Forrest is Hawkeye. She's talking to Hawkeye.

"..."

"Really? That's where Ah'm headed ta now."

"..."

"Rogue that."

"..."

"Me too. Now listen, Ah ain't alone. Ah made some friends. So, watch yer fire once ah'm there."

"..."

"Alright, Brooks out."

She turned off her radio and said, "That was Hawkeye. He's at the school, he's safe. He'll provide sniper support once we get thar."

"Good, I think we might need it." I said.

I didn't notice until now, but Dallas wasn't with the group. Where did he go?

"Guys, help! I found the giant!" I hear Dallas yell. I see him coming towards the rest of us from my left. And sure enough, there was an angry giant chasing right behind him.

"What did you do?" I yelled back.

"What the fuck is that?!" Stanley said.

"Less talking, more shooting!" Dallas yelled back.

"Y'all heard the man, shoot him!" Alexis said.

I had taken out my shotgun and started to fire at him. The giant was stumbling back from the barrage of bullets that was hammering at his face. He couldn't handle the hail of bullets from five survivors! I fired my shotgun at him till my gun went _"click." _I loaded in just four shells and continued to fire at him. Once I fired the fourth shell, the tank falls down to the ground. His body was covered in blood and gunshot wounds.

"This giant is different." Dallas said.

"You're right. This giant is in different clothes." Eleanor said.

He was right. This giant had purple shorts and had a big, bulky face. The giant also had a buzz cut hairstyle. He actually reminded me of a comic superhero I vaguely remember reading when I was in my teens.

I loaded eight more shells into my shotgun. After I was done loading the shells, I switched back to my revolvers. Not much else had happened for the rest of trip to the lake. We did find the source of the second low growling though; It was a female octopus. She was attached to a tree and had adopted its wooden texture. Eleanor was the one that killed her.

About five minutes after killing the octopus, a gate came into view. Stanley takes out a key and unlocked the gate. Everyone walks through the gate with Stanley shutting and locking the gate behind us. True to his word, Stanley's lake was safe; there wasn't a single infected in sight (which was a great improvement from the infected-filled forest). The lake's water looked so clear, you could practically see the bottom of the lake. To the right of the lake was a shack, which I assumed was where Stanley slept and went about his own business. Next to the shack were two palm trees that had a hammock attached to them. Around the lake was an iron fence that kept all the infected out; I can see why Stanley said that this place was safe.

"Everybody...Welcome to Lake Red Shores." Stanley said.

"This is a nice lake." I said.

"Thank you, I take very good care of it." the warden said.

"It is as clear and clean as Dallas remembers." Dallas said with a grin.

For some reason, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Something just...didn't feel right.

Stanley heads towards his shack. Once he was there, he exclaims, "What the hell?!"

"What happened, Mr. Pendenski?...If you don't mind me asking that is." Eleanor said.

"Someone broke the lock to my shack!" Stanley said.

We rushed to his side and found a busted lock right on his doorstep. He was right. Stanley opens the door and went inside, Dallas and Alexis follows behind him. It was just me and Eleanor that were left outside. After a few short seconds, I hear Stanley's voice again, which was followed by a new voice. This was what I heard.

"Who are you? And what are you doing with my shotgun?" Stanley said.

"I'm the owner of this shack." the new voice said.

"What? No, this is my shack. I just left to check something out."

"Yeah, this is Stanley's shack. Now, leave! Or else, Dallas will kick your ass!" Dallas said.

"Now everybody, calm down. We don't want any trouble." I heard Alexis say.

"Well, you found trouble!" The new voice said.

Then, me and Eleanor couldn't stand it any longer and charged in...just in time to see the man that was causing all the commotion shoot Stanley with his own shotgun.

"**AHHHHHHH!" **Stanley screamed.

"Stanley!" Dallas yelled.

I drew out my revolver and aimed at the man that shot Stanley. He was about to shoot Dallas! I pulled the trigger. A bullet hole appeared in the man's forehead. He falls to the ground with a soft thud. He was dead.

"Don't worry, Stanley. I'm here! Don't you die on me!" Dallas said. He was holding Stanley in his arms.

"Dallas..." Stanley said. He reaches into his pocket and grabs something in it.

Stanley continues and says, "Keys...take care...of...lake."

"Okay, Stanley. I'll take care of the lake." Dallas said. I'm not sure, but I think I saw a tear rolling down Dallas' cheek. Dallas takes whatever it was that Stanley gave him.

"Dallas...Ammo...under bed." Stanley said. Then, his arm went limp.

**Two Hours and a half Later...**

Dallas and Stanley were best friends; Kind of like me and Daniel. I remember back when we were held up the saferoom, Dallas would talk about Stanley all the time. About the times they spent together, about the times they would go to the shooting range together, and about the times they would spend at the lake. They would even go fishing out on the lake when the weather was cool and sunny.

Dallas buried Stanley right next to the palm trees that were next to his shack. A shovel was found inside the shake. All three of us even did a 21 gun salute in his honor; it was Dallas' idea. As it turns out, Stanley gave Dallas some keys and an audio diary. Dallas wouldn't let anybody, but him, listen to it.

Dallas was shot by the man before I killed him. He was lucky that man was using a shotgun slug. If it would have been a buckshell, Dallas would have ended up like Stanley. Alexis attended to Dallas' injuries after we buried Stanley. She did everything. Extracted the bullet (with a knife from her CRV), disinfected it, covered it with gauze, and bandaged it.

As for the man that killed Stanley...we never found out who he was. He didn't have any form of identification on him. No id card, no audio diary, no license, nothing. We didn't care though. We ended up burning his body.

After burying Stanley and burning the corpse, Dallas called everyone into the shack.

"What is it, Dallas? Why did you call all of us in here?" I asked.

Dallas hesitated.

"Guys, I have decided to stay here to honor Stanley's last wish." Dallas said.

"Last wish?" Eleanor asked.

"In the audio diary that he gave me, he asked me to take care of the lake for him. And don't you remember his last words? I decided to honor that." Dallas said.

I thought back to what happened earlier, _"Stanley continues and says, "Keys...take care...of...lake."_

"_Okay, Stanley. I'll take care of the lake." Dallas said._

Everybody (including me) says, "What?!"

"Are ya sure 'bout that?" Alexis asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure...I've open the gate that leads to the school for you guys, but that's going to be my parting gift." Dallas said as he pulled out a key chain that had about four keys attached to it.

"Well, Dallas, if that is what you want...Then, I can't force you to stick with us." I said.

Both Alexis and Eleanor says, "What?!"

Dallas smiles at me. That is the first time I have ever seen him smile like that.

The next half hour was spent dividing up supplies for the rest of the group and for Dallas. Dallas ended up with a quarter of the ammo supplies and the food supplies. Stanley, as it turned out, had left behind two refrigerators both filled to the brim with food. He had also left behind two safes filled with ammunition. It's surprising how well-prepared Stanley was. Alexis also gave Dallas some more bandages for his wound and told him to change them daily until the bleeding stopped. Throughout the whole thing, Dallas kept quiet, no bragging or talking.

After everything was said and done, we all gathered around the gate that led outside. I never got a good look at it until now. It looked like one of those grand-looking gates that you would probably see as the entrance to a mansion or something like that. It had a blue tint to it. It looked so fancy.

"Well, Dallas, this is it." I said.

"It is." Dallas responded.

"Take care, Dallas. You were a good companion." I said.

"And good luck out there. I hope you make it to the school." Dallas said.

Everyone says their goodbyes. Dallas goes to the gate and unlocks it for us to leave. Alexis and Eleanor goes through it. Right when I was going to go through it myself, I decided to do something before I leave. I told Alexis and Eleanor to wait.

"What is it, Ryan? Don't make this anymore sadder than it needs to be." Dallas said.

"Here...I want you to have this." I said. I took out a revolver. The Smith & Wesson, the one that Seamus gave me.

"What? You're giving me your revolver?" Dallas said. He was surprised.

"Yes, It would be in better hands if you had it. I have seen how you handled a gun. And don't worry, I still have my diamondback."

A tear started going down Dallas' face. He takes the gun and gives me a hug! At first, I was surprised, but I returned the hug. We broke the hug and we did a handshake that we had practiced when we were in the encampment.

"Good bye, Ryan. I'm honored to have been with you this past week." Dallas said.

"Same here, Dallas. I left half my magnum bullets in the safe for you." I said.

"Thank you, Ryan...Well, you might as well leave now. There's nothing else for you here."

"Yeah, you're right."

I go through the gate as Dallas slowly closed it. He also locked it before any infected came in. Then, I hear Dallas' voice.

He yelled, "Isn't the caring and passionate Dallas better than the old Dallas?!"

...wow. Way to ruin the mood, Dallas.

While Dallas and I were having our..."moment," Alexis and Eleanor were killing off several of the infected that were coming towards the closed gates. After it was all cleared, Alexis started a conversation.

"Ryan, why did ya let Dallas stay?" Alexis asked.

I thought back to what I said back when Dallas gathered everyone in the shack.

"_Well, Dallas, if that is what you want...Then, I can't force you to stick with us." I said._

"Because...That is what he wanted. We can't force him to stay with us if he didn't want to. He would have resented us." I replied.

Alexis paused. Then, she said, "Ya know what? Yer probably right, Ryan."


	18. Ch 18 Once Bitten

After we left Lake Red Shores behind, our group (or at least what's left of it) had to be on our toes. We had to watch each other's backs. With Dallas, we would often just rely on the buddy system. Nobody would go anywhere by themselves. We couldn't rely on that anymore. What's left of our journey will be that much harder unless we find another fourth member.

We were still in the forest, but as we walked through the forest, the trees were starting to appear less frequently. It was like that until we were out of the forest completely. As we were exiting the forest, I managed to kill a puker. His body broke upon impact with my bullet, his bile spread to all the nearby trees. Shortly after the puker died, a bunch of strays came and started attacking the trees that had the bile on them. I'm guessing the infected will attack anything that is covered with the bile.

Upon leaving the forest, we found ourselves in an urban neighborhood. There were a few abandoned cars scattered around the streets. There were also strays and wanderers. We took care of them without any problems though. Although, one of them managed to land a punch on me. Clear on the other side of the street, I could barely make out the school.

"Is that the school that I see up ahead? I can't tell from here, it's too far away." I said.

"That might be; Let's go find out." Alexis said.

I noticed that on one of the abandoned cars was an audio diary. Next to it was a jar of...some kind of green liquid. I didn't want to touch it, it didn't look sanitary or clean. On the jar was _CEDA_'slogo, the biohazard symbol, and a label that read, "Boomer Excretion." What the hell is a "Boomer?" I looked at the audio diary and examined it. It was labeled, _"Once Bitten." _The name was smudged off, rendering it illegible.

I said, "Guys, I found an audio diary." I didn't even want to mention the jar of "Boomer Excretion" to them.

Alexis and Eleanor came over to me.

"Well, go ahead and play it." Alexis said.

I pressed the "play" and we all listened to it.

"_I can't believe it. I was bitten when this "outbreak" started, but...I haven't "turned" yet. It's been a fortnight already. Am I going to turn into them or not? If I do, when? If I was bitten two weeks ago and I haven't "turned," does that mean I'm immune? I must be immune. If the saferoom graffiti is true, I should have turned on the same day I was bitten. When I was bitten, I killed that bastard that bit me. I'm glad I have my hunting rifle with me, otherwise...who knows what else that infected man could have done. I also found a pistol on the man's body after I killed him...but I digress. When the man bit me, I just patched myself up with some of the medical supplies from my first aid kit. After that, I didn't feel any different, I felt the same like as if that bite was just another wound. I just hope I can find little Andrea before something bad happens to her. Where could she be? Maybe I should look for her at the school, maybe she's there. The school was always her favorite place..."_

Huh, I'm guessing, from the recording, that just because you're bitten doesn't mean that you'll turn. Maybe this guy **is** "immune" as he had stated in the diary. I wonder where this man is now.

"That is a nice piece of information there." I said.

"Yeah, ah never knew that." Alexis said.

That was when I noticed that Eleanor had a...look on her face like as if she just had a revelation. It's like in a cartoon where a character gets an idea and a bright, little light bulb appears above their head when they get an idea. If you can picture that, then you could picture Eleanor's face.

"Eleanor, what's wrong?" I asked.

"It's...it's nothing. Y-you don't have to worry." she replied.

"Sweetie, don't tell me you were bitten before." Alexis said.

She said something, but it was about the same volume of a mouse squeaking.

"Could you repeat that? I didn't quite catch that." I said.

"I said, y-yes, I was bitten...last week." She said. She exposed her shoulder that showed the bite mark.

"Dag nab it, why didn't ya say anythin'?" Alexis asked.

"I figured I was immune since...I w-wasn't turning into...one of "them." Eleanor replied.

Surprisingly, Alexis dropped it. She probably figured that she was right. If she was bitten last week like she said, then she wouldn't be standing here with us.

Soon, the school was in view clearly this time. Athens Middle School was an outdoor school. It had a quad, cafeteria, scattered benches, a separate office building, over hundred classrooms, and a football field. The evac is probably taking place at the football field, considering the size of said field. From where we were standing, the office building was facing us. We also had a clear view of the quad area; it looked like it was flooded with the infected. Several echoing gunshots can be heard in the distance.

Alexis takes out her radio from out of her CRV and turned it on. Then, she started talking into it.

"Forrest, me and mah friends are here. We are facing the office building."

"..."

"Rogue that, Brooks out."

I asked, "What did Hawkeye say?"

She replied, "He said ta be careful, there is man walking 'round the school killin' the infected. He also said that there is another mean lookin' man close ta our location. Hawkeye sees us though his scope."

"Interesting...We should be careful then. Who knows what they're do." I said back.

We went towards the school offices. Once we were there, I noticed that everything looked exactly the same as when I went here for school. There was the main offices, the counselor offices, the principal office, and the medical offices. In front of all the offices was the grass yard that I remember I would always hang around during lunchtime. In the middle of the yard was a single tree. There were scattered infected corpses around.

That was when I hear the sound of a screeching noise piercing through the air. It sounded like a chirping bird. I looked around for the source of the noise. Then, I found that it was coming from the quad's general direction. What could be causing that noise? It's so high-pitched.

"Ahh! What is that noise?" I asked.

"That must be Hawkeye; He said he'd fire one of his special, screeching flares to let us know where he is hidin'. It sounded like it came from the quad." Alexis said.

"A little more warning would have been appreciated." I said.

"My ears are hurting." Eleanor said.

"Sorry, forgot ta tell-." Alexis started.

She stopped mid-sentence and I hear Eleanor grasp. I turned towards Alexis and saw that she was grabbed by a man that had a pistol to her head. The man had Alexis in a couched choke hold. He had spiky, brown hair and wore a black, leather vest over a light-grey tank top. Both of his arms were covered in an assortment of tattoos. His eyes were covered by a pair of yellow-tinted sunglasses. The right lenses were slightly cracked.

The man said, "Don't move or else the lady gets it!"


	19. Ch 19 Saved by the Ghillie

"Let's all just calm down here, alright? Nobody has to get hurt here. What do you want for her release?" I asked calmy.

The man still had Alexis in a choke hold. The pistol was still held to her head. Although, he was exercising good trigger discipline; his finger wasn't on the trigger. It seems like he didn't want to shoot her.

"I would like both of you to drop your weapons." the man said.

"Okay. Eleanor...Do as he says." I said.

"But..." She replied.

"Please do it, Eleanor. We don't want Alexis to get hurt right?" I said.

"O-okay..."

As I was about to place my shotgun on the ground, the man rises his pistol and fires a shot. I looked towards where he fired and saw an infected man fall to the ground.

"Wouldn't want to be interrupted now, do we?" he said. He had an evil grin on his face.

I slowly placed my shotgun on the ground. I took out my diamond back and placed it on the ground too. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Eleanor place her pistol on the ground too, along with her hunting rifle. (I forgot that she had that rifle, she has just been using her pistol this whole time.) I sure hope Hawkeye was watching this, we could really use his help. The man takes out Alexis' python and her assault rifle and drops them on the ground.

"Good, now that we're all..."safe," turn around." the man said.

Both me and Eleanor did as he said. I felt a gun barrel being pressed against my head.

"Now, time for you to-...!" the man started.

He stopped mid-sentence when a loud gunshot rang through the air. I turned around and faced the man. He had a frightened expression on his face. A bullet hole had appeared on his forehead. A fresh stream of blood started going down his face from the bullet hole. He lets go of Alexis and falls to the ground with an audible thud.

"Oh man, that was close." I said.

"Eeeyup, any longer an' he would have shot ya." Alexis said.

Eleanor looked frightened out of her skin. There were several stray tears going down her face.

"Hey, hey, Eleanor...it's okay, he's dead." I said.

"H-he could have shot you..." she said.

"Don't worry...I'm okay." I said.

Alexis patted her on the back. She gave Eleanor a reassuring grin and Eleanor smiles back. We all recovered our guns and went towards the quad. There wasn't anything else for us to do here. Time to meet the man that just saved us.

The quad, however, was still flooded with the infected, strays and wanderers alike. Hawkeye was hiding in there somewhere. He must have some very good camouflage if the infected weren't tearing him apart right now. Alexis took out her radio and turned up the volume loud enough for me and Eleanor to hear, but quiet enough for the infected to not hear it. Why didn't she do that the first time Hawkeye contacted her?

"Forrest, we're just outside the quad. Where are ya? There's too many of them!" Alexis said.

His voice soon came on. He said, "I'm laid down on the green hill in the middle of quad. If I so much as move a muscle, I'm a dead man."

"Don't worry, Forrest. Ah have a solution." Alexis said.

She reattaches the radio to her CRV and opens another pocket on it. Out of the pocket, she pulls out something that looked like a white pipe. After a while of staring at it, I remembered what it is!

_"Oh yeah...Remember the fucking blinking I mentioned? Yeah, it was a fuckin' bomb. When you light the fuse, it will emit a beeping sound that attracts all nearby fuckers after a few seconds and Boom! So, I crawled to it, grabbed it, lit it with a match, and chucked it out the window." He explained._

_I look towards the horde and saw a bright red beeping dot bouncing up and down. The infected went towards the beeping dot. _

It was the same kind of bomb that Seamus used. Alexis pulled out a match out of her CRV and lit the bomb's fuse with it. Damn, how many supplies does Alexis have in that CRV of her's? Anyways, Alexis throws the bomb out into the quad yelling, "Fire in the hole!" The bomb started to beep and the infected started to chase after the beeping red dot. All three of us got behind the wall that we were hiding behind. The bomb goes off, effectively, clearing out the entire quad.

I whistled and said, "That is one way to kill them all!"

"Hawkeye, where are ya?" Alexis shouted.

I looked towards the green hill that Hawkeye said he was hiding at and I noticed two patches of grass starting to move. Then, I noticed masked faces appear in the moving patches of grass.

"Hawkeye! There ya are!" Alexis said.

"Corporal Brooks, it's good to see you again." Hawkeye said. They shared a brief hug.

"I see yer still in that special Ghillie suit of yers."

"Yep. Believe it or not, this suit actually saved my life from the infected..." He said.

Hawkeye looked about my height. I couldn't see his whole face because it was covered with a black mask that covered everything, but his brown eyes. I saw that he had a olive green bandana wrapped around his forehead. He was also wearing some kind of suit that looked like it was made out of grass (I think Alexis called it a "Ghillie Suit?"). On his chest, I saw that he was wearing a CRV much like Alexis. On his back was some kind of sniper rifle that had a green pattern on it. How did I not notice the rifle when he was hiding among the grass if it was on his back?

After a short pause, he said, "So, are you going to introduce me to your friends?"

Alexis replied, "Sure thing."

After proper introductions, Hawkeye told us that he saw a saferoom door in the cafeteria. If I remember correctly, the cafeteria is right next to the quad. After a short, problem-less walk, I saw the red door that Hawkeye was talking about. We all went inside to get some supplies and some much needed rest.

As it turns out, the second man turned out to be Captain John Halls. He had arrived just earlier, about an hour before we came. He had almost the same equipment as Hawkeye. The only thing different between the two is that Halls didn't wear a bandana or a mask. He, however, had a cigarette in his mouth. I could tell that he was old; his mustache was gray.


End file.
